WOTTON residents are facing reduced banking facilities in the town.

TSB has announced it is to slash its opening hours from a five-day operation to two days a week.

It will retain its Long Street branch, but from the end of July it will only be opening on Thursdays and Fridays, between 9am and 5pm.

TSB customers have received a letter telling them about the closure.

The letter says: “To make sure we meet the future needs of our customers and local communities, we’re looking at how we can make changes to invest in our branch and digital services. This includes re-fitting some branches, opening new ones and adjusting the hours of our quieter branches.

“Following a careful and full review of Wotton under Edge, we have used customer transaction information and local knowledge to identify when our customers use the branch most.”

A TSB spokesman insisted there would no job losses.

But Martin Tucker, president of Wotton Chamber of Commerce, said the reduced hours would be an issue for staff.

He said: “The staff will be affected because they’ll only be working a two-day week and most people who get paid for five days can’t afford to go down to two days’ pay.”

He also thought the new hours would also be problematic for business customers.

“If I was banking money from my business I wouldn’t want to only be doing it on a Thursday or a Friday.

“And I think the net effect could be that the TSB then closes, because they will lose more customers.”

A TSB spokesman said: “Our customers use banking services in different ways and the way they bank has and continues to change. Customer usage of our Wotton branch has decreased by three per cent over the last year. Sixty-two per cent of customers at this branch use another branch, or telephone or digital banking services to access TSB banking services.

“For customers who would like to access branch services outside of these times, the nearest TSB branch is our Dursley branch, which is 4.7 miles from the Wotton-under-Edge branch and the nearest Post Office is located at 38 Long Street in Wotton.”

There is also a Lloyds Bank and a Coventry Building Society in the town.