Ellesmere's NatWest bank closes its doors for last time

The branch closed after a drop in the number of customers forced the bank to end the service.

The bank revealed that the number of transactions taking place at the branch dropped by 10 per cent since 2011 and only 47 customers had been using the branch on a regular weekly basis.

Ismay Evans, who runs nearby clothing shop Ismay's, said yesterday's closure would have a profound affect on the town – and warned no parts of Shropshire were safe from bank closures.

HSBC has already said a fall in usage has prompted it to close its Whitchurch and Market Drayton branches in January. It will also close its branches in Llanfyllin and Llanfair Caereinion.

Mrs Evans said: "Today is a sad day for our town. My concern is not having face-to-face contact.

"I am still having lots of customers say they can't get to Oswestry where the nearest branch is now and that is a real problem especially for elderly people or businesses."

Mrs Evans recently set up a petition calling for the bank to introduce a mobile service to visit the town on a regular basis.

She has now collected 601 signatures in support of her idea but the scheme has been rejected by NatWest.

Sean Palmer, a spokesman for the bank, said they had decided not to introduce the service.

He added that the bank was "confident" appropriate services are in place to access banking locally. But Mrs Evans said: "It is the personal customer service with all these big companies that is going.

"It would be fantastic to have a mobile service. I realise it is not going to happen straight away but when they think about it more and see the petition with 601 names – I think they will be surprised at that.

"They made the decision about the service when they thought there were 160 names so I'm hoping it is something they will keep in mind at least."

Mayor of Ellesmere, Councillor Ian Ward said: "It does leave another big hole in the town in terms of financial institutions.

"It is a very disappointing day. It is quite inconvenient for a lot of local people.

"It is just a very unfortunate decision to close the branch here which leaves only one bank with a branch in the town."