STOURPORT's NatWest branch is facing closure, leaving jobs uncertain and forcing residents to do their banking elsewhere.

NatWest announced the High Street branch will close on March 26 2015 due to the number of transactions taking place there falling over the last few years.

Sarah Binnie, media relations manager for NatWest, said: “We have taken the difficult decision to close some of our NatWest branches.

“Over our whole branch network there has been a 30 per cent drop in branch transactions since 2010 as people do their banking where and when it is convenient for them.

“We expect these trends to continue as more and more of our customers bank with us through our mobile app, by online and telephone and through our upgraded ATM network.”

The branch currently employs two full-time members of staff and when The Shuttle enquired about what would happen to the staff members, Mrs Binnie said: “We always aim to redeploy to nearby branches where possible and keep compulsory redundancies to a minimum.”

Residents will still be able to carry out some in-branch services including withdrawing cash, checking balances and making a deposit free of charge, as those will be taken up by the town's Post Office.

Mrs Binnie said: “Our branches are still very important to us and we’ll continue to have one of the largest branch networks in the UK.

“80 per cent of our customers are within a three mile radius of a branch, and when you include the Post Office network that rises to 90 per cent of our customers being within one mile of a place where they can carry out their every day banking.”

Customers of the Stourport branch have been sent letters informing them of the closure and the other ways they could continue to bank with NatWest.

Mrs Binnie added: “If customers or local businesses are concerned about how this will impact their banking, they can go into the branch where staff will be happy to discuss the alternative ways to bank with us.”