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Cheltenham & Gloucester (C&G) has announced that it is to close 31 of its branches, with hundreds of jobs to be lost as a result.

In a statement today the finance firm said that it would be talking individually to all 315 of its staff affected by the announcement about their options.

The company, which is part of the Lloyds TSB group, currently has 195 branches across the country.

It said that those branches earmarked for closure would cease trading in November, with the increasing use of technology by customers cited for the decision to close part of C&G's network of outlets.

But the former building society insisted that customers would not be left without a local branch, with plans in place to allow them to carry out C&G transactions at their nearest Lloyds TSB branch from the end of October.

C&G stressed that a Lloyds TSB branch was within a mile of most of its 31 branches set for closure.

"Closing branches is never a decision that we take lightly but, with more customers taking advantage of technology, the number of customers coming through the doors in these particular branches has fallen," explained C&G managing director Jon Pain.

"By closing these branches where customer use has dropped, we can invest in the branches that customers do use," he added, stressing that the company would make "every effort" to ensure account holders were not disadvantaged by the move.

C&G said that it would seek alternative jobs within the company or elsewhere in Lloyds TSB for affected staff who wished to stay within the group.

But trade unions have questioned the need for the branch closures in the wake of healthy first-half profits reported by the company.

John Bancroft, national officer of the Unite union, said the group was "very disappointed" at the plans.

"We will oppose any compulsory job losses and will continue to challenge the business rationale for this decision. We believe local branches are the financial lifeblood of the company," he said in a statement anticipating the announcement.