NatWest bank closure: Council complaint over Wem branch

Wem Town Council made the decision following fears the closure of the bank branch in High Street will have a negative impact on people in the area.

Mayor of Wem, Councillor John Murray, said he was keen to raise concerns over the lose of the banking giant from the area.

"We are writing to the highest person we can find to find out what they are prepared to do," he said.

"We are going for reduced hours, but failing all else there used to be a mobile bank that came through the village.

"I know they have one in Wrexham and other places as well, so we know they do have them.

"If all else fails then that is what we would like because it is at least a service – and that is what we need."

Earlier this month NatWest announced the closure would take place from July 13 due to a reduction in usage.

It comes after the Co-operative Bank shut its Whitchurch branch in High Street this week, with two staff relocating and another two facing redundancy.

Bosses at NatWest described it as a "difficult decision" but they would do all they could to answer customer questions in the lead-up to the closure.

The bank has seen the number of transactions on the High Street branch reduce by 18 per cent since 2011.

Councillor Murray said the decision to write to the bank had been made at a meeting of Wem Town Council earlier this week.

He said: "The worry is if you lose your bank you lose your footfall.

"Wem doesn't need any more of that with the closure of the customer service point and the register office.

"We are all very upset about it, and I think people are maybe not taking into account that Wem is a growing town.

"We have got so many plans to expand and they are building a lot of houses in Wem.

"We haven't stopped growing yet and I think in 20 years time the town could be double the size it is now."

The move comes after a number of banks have announced closures over the last year in north Shropshire.

HSBC has already closed its branches in Ellesmere, Whitchurch and Market Drayton while NatWest has also closed in Ellesmere.

Santander closed its branch in Market Drayton last year.

It was one of 138 branches to close across the country.