QUESTIONS are being asked of NatWest Bank amid fears for the future of its Minehead branch after customers were told it was withdrawing one of its traditional services.

West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger wants to know the bank’s intentions, particularly as the nearby branch of HSBC is due to be closed in May.

NatWest has written to West Somerset customers to say its branch in The Parade , Minehead, will no longer be able to offer secure storage for important documents such as wills or property deeds.

Customers were invited to either call at the bank to collect thedocuments or arrange to have them posted out.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said he was not aware of any official local consultation by NatWest about its future in the town.

However, he said: “The fact that it is no longer offering secure storage services suggests to me the writing is on the wall, and it reads ‘We are going’.”

The Parade premises have been home to a bank for more than a century, originally opening as Westminster Bank and then continuing as National Westminster after the 1968 merger with National Provincial, whose Minehead branch stood opposite in a building now occupied by an estate agent.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said he wanted a clear statement from NatWest officials as to what the future held for the branch after being alerted by constituents to the withdrawal of secure storage services.

He said: “It may be jumping to conclusions but when a bank starts to make announcements such as this it has all the hallmarks of preparations being made to move out of the premises.

“Banks in general are making hard-nosed commercial decisions on the basis of strict benchmark tests in an atmosphere where the interests of local customers do not always count for much.

“During the pandemic, thousands of customers switched to online banking and have not gone back.

“But banks themselves have, equally, been trying to persuade customers to switch to online banking for years.

“The inevitable outcome is that the more business is done online, the smaller the footfall through the branch, and the better the case can be made out for closing it and saving money.

“But online banking is not for everyone.

“Many people, particularly the elderly, do not have computers and therefore without a local branch are reduced to doing their banking with a remote call centre over the telephone, which is a far from ideal situation and leaves them particularly vulnerable to scammers.

“We need to get some straight answers from NatWest over its plans for Minehead - and it needs to be honest and upfront with customers who have banked with it for many years.”