THE Malmesbury branch of HSBC will be closing in the New Year, with residents describing the news as a “disaster”.

The bank announced this week that their Malmesbury branch will close on January 20, 2017.

The nearest HSBC for customers living in the town will be Chippenham.

Owner of Amanda’s Bistro in the centre of Malmesbury, Helen Moody said the closure will be “completely untenable” for her business.

She said: “This is a disaster for us as we bank cash there every day and all of our employees us the branch too.

“We are a cash driven business and with our opening hours simply cannot get to Chippenham or Cirencester during bank opening times.

“The problem is compounded by the fact that the other two banks in town are on much shorter hours now too.

“This will certainly have to result in closing our personal accounts because telephone and online banking cannot work for our line of business.”

Ed Tout echoed the sentiments, saying: “It's bad enough trying to find the time to get in there during work hours, let alone now venturing to Chippenham.”

Concerns were also raised for elderly customers of the bank who may not have convenient transport to Chippenham or who are not computer-savvy.

To respond to this issue, the bank will be holding weekly sessions to inform residents about “alternative ways to bank”, which will provide people help in setting up mobile or internet banking.

These drop-in sessions will take place in Malmesbury every Tuesday from 9.30am-4.30pm.

A spokesperson for HSBC said: “We continually review our branch network to make sure our branches are in the right locations for our customers and we have a sustainable network for the future.

“Over the past five years, we have seen footfall reduce by an average of 40 per cent at our regional branches and sometimes we have to make the difficult decision to close branches.

“These are not decisions we take lightly and we work closely with those impacted, including customers, to help them understand their options.

“That said, 93 per cent of contact with the bank is now completed via the telephone, internet or smartphone, plus 97 per cent of cash withdrawals are made via an ATM.

“As a result, most of our customers are already carrying out their daily banking needs without need of the branch itself.

“In addition to mobile and internet banking, we have put in place a number of measures to help customers, including a partnership with the Post Office which has a branch just a short walk from the Malmesbury HSBC branch.

“The Malmesbury Post Office is open Monday to Friday, 9am-5.30pm and Saturday, 9am-1pm, so our customers can still carry out their day-to-day banking.

“We will be working closely with our customers in the coming weeks to ensure they are fully aware of all the measures in place to support them.”