RBS to shutter another 54 branches, axe 258 jobs

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland said on Wednesday it will close a further 54 branches and axe 258 jobs, in what it called the final cut to its branch network until at least 2020.

British banks have shuttered hundreds of branches in recent years in a bid to cut costs. RBS said the latest closures were related to its failed bid to spin-out its Williams & Glyn brand into a stand-alone bank.

"As we are no longer launching Williams & Glyn as a challenger bank we now have two branch networks operating in close proximity to each other in England and Wales," an RBS spokesman said in a statement.

(Reporting by Emma Rumney, editing by Sinead Cruise)