A banking giant has made its clearest sign yet that it’s pulling out of Petersfield as a building society confirms its commitment to staying in town.

A planning application to remove the ‘Lloyds Bank’ lettering above the entrance to its landmark branch on The Square has been submitted to the South Downs National Park Authority.

The lettering will be removed manually using hand tools in a “conservation-led” project that aims to restore the building’s historic façade.

The branch is expected to close on January 21, leaving Santander and Nationwide as the only bricks-and-mortar banks or building societies in the town centre.

But there is some good news as the latter has confirmed that no Nationwide branches will close before 2030.