Bank connected to fugitive's £1.2m heist to close

"Fast" Eddie Maher evaded capture for 19 years, having moved to the US with his wife and child

A bank that was the scene of a £1.2m robbery by a "most-wanted" fugitive is due to close.

The Lloyds branch in Felixstowe, Suffolk, hit the headlines when former security van driver "Fast" Eddie Maher disappeared from outside the building in a Securicor vehicle containing the money in January 1993.

He evaded capture for 19 years having moved to the US with his wife and child.

The building, now a TSB, will close on 10 September as the bank looks for a "better balance of digital and face-to-face services".

The building on Hamilton Road in Felixstowe town centre was a branch of Lloyds Bank when the robbery took place

The fireman-turned-security van driver from South Woodham Ferrers in Essex flew business class from Heathrow to Dallas, a few weeks after the heist.

He carried a suitcase with banknotes wrapped in towels and a fake passport in the name of Stephen King.

The family evaded capture until 6 February 2012 when Maher's daughter-in-law walked into Ozark police station in Missouri and said she knew where he was.

In July 2012 he was extradited to the UK. Eight months later he was sentenced to five years for theft but was released in January 2015.

Eddie Maher, pictured after his eventual jailing and release from prison, spent 19 years on the run

The TSB said its Hamilton Road branch in the seaside and port town will close for good.

A bank spokesperson said about 96% of all the bank's transactions took place outside of a branch, and the number of in-store transactions fell by 43% over the past four years.

They added: "The decision to close a branch is never taken lightly, but our customers are now doing most of their banking digitally and we need to move to a better balance of digital and face-to-face services.

"We remain committed to a national branch network and through innovation and integration with video, telephone, digital, branch and other face-to-face services TSB customers have more ways to bank with us than ever before."

The company said it would work on reducing business expenses and aimed to generate more income by making the business more efficient.

Eddie Maher escaped in a Securicor van in the raid and later abandoned it