A MOBILE bank will be opening for business in Highworth next week immediately after the town’s only brick-and-mortar bank closes down.

Next Wednesday, the Lloyds Bank unit will open by the town library ‘s car park and return on Friday, then come back for three days a week for the foreseeable future.

As previously reported in the Adver, Highworth’s High Street branch of Lloyds will be closing next month and there were concerns that this would force the thousands of residents living in the town to travel elsewhere to do their day-to-day banking.

The bank will shut for good on April 4 and the mobile branch will open its doors to customers on April 5.

Highworth mayor Alan Bishop is hopeful that the transition will be smooth.

He said: “It’s going to flow nicely and work really well, it’s brilliant.

“I’ve been negotiating with Lloyds Bank since before Christmas and I noticed that they’d already used a mobile bank in Cornwall.

“I had a meeting with them and Justin Tomlinson, who was also keen to keep the bank going and, with enough pressure from us, they agreed to put one in Highworth.”

The bank will be open for just over two hours on Mondays between 9.30am and 11.45am, Wednesdays from 12.15pm to 2.15pm and Fridays between 12.30pm and 2.15pm.

Its three permanent staff members are currently in the town with the unit to meet their new customers and help them get used to the change.

Eight metres of double yellow lines will be removed to make space for the seven metre unit after the mayor, who is also a councillor for Swindon Borough Council, successfully persuaded SBC to make the change.

The mobile bank will feature one counter, a lift to give disabled customers easy access, and a waiting area with space for at least five people.

Mr Bishop said: “Their reasoning for the bank closing was that everyone today uses online banking so there was no need for that branch any more and I disagreed with that.

“A large proportion of the population in Highworth are elderly, they don’t understand online banking or they prefer to speak face-to-face with the people behind the counter.

“Small businesses are really pleased because they can take their takings down during the day.”

A spokesman for Lloyds Bank said: “We have launched a new mobile bank branch which will visit Highworth and Fairford regularly.

“This new mobile branch will provide a vital service to the local communities it visits, by giving customers access to everyday banking services, such as making deposits, withdrawing cash and paying bills.

“Our mobile branch colleagues will also be on hand to help customers access online banking and answer any general account or product inquiries.”