NEWS that Nat West is shutting its branches in Royal Wootton Bassett and West Swindon as part of a national round of 259 closures has been met with dismay.

Royal Bank of Scotland made the announcement yesterday that 62 of its own and 179 Nat West branches by June next year, resulting in 680 job losses.

It blamed changes in the way customers banked and said that since 2014 the number of people actually going into banks had dropped by 40 per cent. At the same time mobile transactions had increased by 73 per cent.

The Wootton Bassett branch only saw 28 customers visiting on a weekly basis and transactions in the branch had reduced by 57 per cent since 2012.

In West Swindon the number of weekly customers was 49 following a 46 per cent drop since 2012. It said 90 per cent of customers already banked in other ways locally.

In a statement it said: “We are communicating with our customers affected by the closure and proactively contacting vulnerable customers and regular branch users.

“We have extended the time between announcing our decision and the branch closure to six months; this has been done so that we can ensure our customers have enough time to consider the right banking options for them and to give us time to support them one-to-one during the transition.”

The closures mean the nearest Nat West branch is at Commercial Road in central Swindon.

Roz Paton, presidents of the town’s chamber of commerce, said the closure would impact customers, consumers and businesses. The town had already lost its HSBC.

“It just takes the focus away from the high street,” she said. “Businesses already have to get staff to drive into Swindon to bank cheques. “

Because of the time it took some collected the cheques and took them in once a week, sacrificing interest to avoid spending more time banking them daily.

Many businesses like garages still had to accept cheques, especially from older customers. If they decided to refuse cheques they risked losing valuable custom.

“It just makes it more difficult and complicated to do business,” she said. “I want to know what the banks are doing to make it easier for their customers.

One way to help would be to open automated paying in points for cash and cheques that could be used by businesses.

And if they were intent on closing branches banks should have had the foresight to invest in technology to help business customers. “The banks should have been thinking about this a long time ago.”

Business Association chairman Hazel Newson, who pays many of her bills by cheque, said:

“Businesses need change. It is not only that. It’s footfall, people coming in to do their banking. There are a lot of elderly people who don’t do online banking.”

The loss of banks in the town was having a huge impact. “It is eating away at the community all the time.”