A BANK was forced to close for a day after it was splattered in blood from a street fight.

Lloyd’s bank branch in Station Road, Portslade, was closed on Saturday after its cashpoint lobby was covered in blood.

Staff at the branch called Sussex Police on Saturday morning at 8.41am to report they had found blood on the carpet and cashpoint in the foyer area of the bank which staff cleaned up after officers left the scene.

The discovery of blood follows reports from 3.30am on Saturday of two men fighting in Station Road, Portslade.

A Sussex Police officer arrived to find an 18-year old Worthing man in the street suffering from the after effects of a blow in the face.

The man refused medical treatment and refused to tell the officer what had happened.

Residents noticing the closed branch on Saturday morning were worried that the branch had become a victim of a number of permanent closures planned by the banking group in the area.

However a relative of an employee at the branch put residents straight on Facebook by explaining that police would not allow customers in until a deep clean of the bank had been carried out.