LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Banco Santander SA (SAN) will shut 96 high street branches as part of its effort to complete the integration of the British lenders it bought during the financial crisis, the Sunday Times reported. The sites will be closed in towns where the bank has several branches close together, many of which were previously branches of Alliance & Leicester or Bradford & Bingley. The bank, which has 25 million U.K. customers, will open 20 new branches over the next two years in areas where it has little presence, the report said. A spokesman for Santander couldn't be immediately reached for comment. Newspaper Web site: http://www.timesonline.co.uk -London Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9320 Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
