A BANK chain is still planning to open a branch in Bradford city centre next year - despite other chains closing branches across the country.

Metro Bank will open its first Bradford branch in the former Five Guys unit in the Exchange - opposite Broadway.

The company was granted planning permission for the development last year - and has since announced that the branch would open in early 2021.

In recent months a number of big name banks have announced branch closures, including the CoOp bank which has announced the closure of its city centre branch.

But Metro Bank recently put out a statement committing itself to high street banking, and confirmed to the Telegraph & Argus that the Bradford branch was still due to open next year.

Plans to re-open empty city centre building as arts hub given new boost

New figures show that 41 per cent of locals in Yorkshire say banks they use have reduced their opening hours, and one in ten reported that banks have closed completely.

Almost half of people (44 per cent) have been impacted by this, and when asked if they had struggled to do their banking as a result almost one third agreed (31 per cent).

And this comes at a time when more than one third of people (38 per cent) in Yorkshire are worried about their finances as a result of Covid-19.

Daniel Frumkin, Chief Executive Officer at Metro Bank, says: β€œIt’s in tough times like these that being a community bank really matters. While bigger banks are abandoning the high street, Metro Bank is proud to be bucking the trend as a full-service, challenger bank committed to providing great service for customers in Yorkshire.”

When asked if the Bradford branch was still due to open in 2021, a Metro Bank spokesman added: "That is correct."

The branch is due to open in 2021.

It will open from early in the morning until late at night, seven-days-a-week.