Robert Marshall of Skinner's with Skye the dog and Adam Bensusan of Bio Group

Banking group Lloyds yesterday pledged not to reduce its branch network for three years following a moratorium on closures last year.

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Two Suffolk firms have joined forces to turn food waste into green energy.

Bio Group, which operates the Adnams Bio Energy facility in Southwold have entered into an agreement with Skinner’s Pet Foods, which manufactures dry dog foods at Stradbroke near Eye.

The deal means more than half a tonne of food waste each week is converted by Bio Group into biomethane, which is then used as green gas for the national grid.

Skinner’s said the deal would help the company reduce its costs by 20pc and reduce its carbon footprint.

The group, which is the UK’s biggest retail bank with 2,902 branches, said last March it would not close any outlets until the end of 2011 while new boss Antonio Horta-Osorio carried out a strategic review.

It said it will keep branch numbers the same for the next three years, meaning that if it closes one, another will be opened. It also said it will not close a site if it is the last one in a community.

The announcement does not include the 632 sites it will sell to the Co-operative Group at the end of 2013.

The move comes as bosses at HSBC this week announced it was closing its Harleston branch.