The Bank of Scotland plans to shut 23 branches throughout the country over low demand.

The north east will be worst hit by the move, with seven banks expected to close.

Branches will also shut in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Tayside and the Highlands and Islands.

Lloyds Banking Group, which owns Bank of Scotland, began a three-year review of the business in 2014.

A spokesman said on Wednesday: "As part of this review, we can confirm today that Bank of Scotland will be closing 23 branches.

"In most cases, this is as a result of falling customer demand while in others it is because of overlaps with other nearby branches.

"Branches will continue to play an important role in our multi-channel customer offering.

"Bank of Scotland is committed to maintaining a local presence and we expect to continue to have the largest branch network in Scotland."

Lloyds said there will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of the closures.