A COUPLE is urging Nationwide members to withdraw their investments from the building society if bosses shut the Old Town branch.

Gilbert Dazely, 85, and his wife Linda, 80, are regular users of the Wood Street branch and claim its closure would hit customer service.

The couple, who have been Nationwide members for about 20 years, say withdrawing their investments is the only way to make the company aware of their strength of feeling.

The call comes after local traders started a petition to save the branch, which has already attracted more than 200 names.

Mr Dazely, who is being joined in the action by his son Nigel, 51, said: “We have to do this in order to wake them up and see how strongly we feel about this.

“Nothing else will hurt them – you can talk, you can get petitions up – but the only way that will hurt them is to withdraw your investments and bring them elsewhere.”

Nationwide announced in January that it has decided to shut 13 branches across the UK, including the Old Town and the Gorse Hill branches, with an expected closure date of May 27.

Mr Dazely, who has signed the petition, says that one of the reasons the couple chose to relocate to their current home in Goddard Mews was because it is in within walking distance of the Wood Street branch.

He says they have used it for about 12 years and nowadays visit at least once a week to perform transactions and check up on their finances.

Nationwide wrote to its customers who use the branches to advice them of other branches nearby and alternative services.

Mr Dazely, a retired senior lecturer at Swindon College, then wrote to Nationwide to object and was disappointed with the response.

A Nationwide spokesman said: “As part of an ongoing review of the Nationwide business and its distribution arrangements we have looked carefully to ensure that we have the right number of branches in the correct locations to meet our customers’ needs.

“We have undertaken a thorough analysis of our five branches in Swindon.

“As a result, we have made the difficult, but carefully considered, decision to close the branches in Gorse Hill and Old Town on May 27, 2011.

“We will retain three branches in Swindon on Regent Street, The Parade and the Croft branch at Nationwide’s headquarters on Pipers Way.