PEOPLE have spoken of their shock after it was announced yet more local bank branches are to close.

The NatWest at the West Swindon District Centre will shut on June 21, with the firm blaming a sharp decline in transactions.

And its branch in Wootton Bassett is closing on June 26 for the same reason.

But Swindon locals expressed surprise.

Lisa Dowdell, who works at The Cutting Bar hairdressers nearby, said: “It doesn’t surprise me anymore when you hear of banks shutting, when you have online banking you don’t really need to go into the branch anymore.

“But my customers are annoyed.”

Marie Goodall works at Timpsons Shoe Repairs, which has a business account with NatWest. She said: “It just doesn’t make sense to me, why would you close this bank?

“This is an extremely busy area and the bank is always being used.

“People from all over the town come to this bank, in particular because it has great parking facilities that are free.”

There has been reaction on social media.

Jackie Midwinter posted: “This makes me so cross. This will make us go into the town centre either having to pay at a car park or use the bus.”

Vance Willis posted: “I’ve been using the West Swindon branch since it first opened.”

A NatWest spokesman said: “As customers change the way they bank with us, we must change the way that we serve them, and this means that some branches will have to close. Closing a branch is a decision we take very seriously.”

The bank said transactions in West Swindon had fallen by 46 per cent since 2012 with only 49 customers use the branch on a weekly basis.

Wootton Bassett’s NatWest has even fewer customers, the bank said. Only 28 people regularly use the branch, with a 57 per cent drop in transactions since 2012.

The closure in Wootton Bassett means the nearest NatWest bank will be on Swindon’s Commercial Road or Cirencester’s Market Place, 16 miles away.