PLANS to launch a mobile banking service in North Yorkshire and the Redcar area have been announced.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) aims to reach about 20 rural communities when the service hits the road in February.

The mobile bank will be based in York and will operate five days a week.

Although the routes have not been finalised, bosses are proposing the bank visits towns and villages near Catterick Garrison, Sowerby, Pickering, Malton, Guisborough, Loftus, Saltburn, Whitby, Filey, Wetherby and Tadcaster.

The service will be the first of its kind from RBS to operate in Yorkshire.

Mobile banks already run in England, Scotland and Wales.

Ewen Munro, the managing director of RBS retail, said: "The Royal Bank of Scotland has a long tradition of providing customers with mobile banking services, and we are delighted that we can now bring this to the communities in Yorkshire.

"In addition to nearly 650 branches, we will be running a total of 16 mobile banks, making life easier for thousands of customers since our first mobile bank was launched in 1946.

"At a time when some organisations are closing branches, we firmly believe that our branch network, and services such as the mobile bank, remain very important for the communities they serve."

The mobile bank will offer the normal range of day-to-day banking services, including paying in cash and cheques, cash withdrawals, paying bills and ordering foreign currency.

RBS's mobile banks are adapted Ford Transit vans.

In 1962, RBS introduced a boat bank in the Orkney Islands, which was replaced by a flying bank in 1969.