SADNESS has been expressed at the news that NatWest will close its branch in Chepstow next year.

The Royal Bank of Scotland, as the Argus previously reported, announced that the Beaufort Square bank is one of 20 across Wales set to close its doors, earlier this month.

Since 2012, transactions have fallen by 43 per cent, with now only 24 customers said to be using the branch on a weekly basis.

Monmouthshire county councillor Paul Pavia, who is set to meet with Monmouth MP David Davies and senior NatWest representatives to discuss the issue, said he was ‘disappointed’ to learn the news.

“My concern is that once one bank starts to take this type of decision then others look at their viability and you start to see a domino effect,” he added.

“I am going to meet with David Davies and senior bank representatives to understand the current proposal and the potential options.”

Cllr Pavia also said he was concerned about the effect of the closure on businesses in Chepstow. and that it would present a challenge for older customers with nearest NatWest branch to be located on the other side of the River Severn in Thornbury.

Cllr Armand Watts said he was ‘saddened’ by the closure.

He said: “The banking high street is in decline. Everything is going online and the problem with that is it disenfranchises a significant amount of people, particularly older people, who don’t know how to do online banking.”

A further 177 NatWest branches, alongside 62 RBS branches, are also set to close – leading to the loss of 680 jobs.

A NatWest spokeswoman said: “We are communicating with our customers affected by the closure and proactively contacting vulnerable customers and regular branch users.

“We have extended the time between announcing our decision and the branch closure to six months; this has been done so that we can ensure our customers have enough time to consider the right banking options for them and to give us time to support them one-to-one during the transition.”