Santander in Gloucester is bucking the national trend of bank branches closing and getting a revamp instead.

Made up of two listed buildings at 6 - 8 Westgate Street, the property dates back to the 16th and 18th Century.

Santander plans to clean up the historic brickwork and modernise the site with two new illuminated digital screens on the shopfront.

A statement prepared by architects LOM on behalf of Santander said the works are "an opportunity to restore and protect the building for further years."

The council agreed that the "sensitive proposal" would "preserve the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building".

Plans for refurbishment and improvement works to the shopfront, banking hall, counter area and internal spaces were approved by Gloucester City Council on Wednesday (Jan 3).

The revamp signals the branch is here to stay for some time, despite the dwindling number of other banks around it.

Spanish-owned Santander announced in 2021 it was closing 111 branches across the country, blaming the shift to online banking.

And the move to digital has been felt across the industry with a total of 5,764 bank and building society branches, almost three-fifth of the network, having closed since January 2015, according to Which.

More will disappear before the end of 2024 with nearly 200 locations being set for closure so far.

Santander currently has 444 UK branches and 22.5m customers.

Its other Gloucestershire sites in Cheltenham, Stroud and Cirencester also look safe for now as they are not on its current list of closures.

It has not announced whether the Gloucester branch will close during the work.