Concerns raised at town's last bank branch to close

As another bank announces it will close its branch, it will be the first time in hundreds of years that Frome will not have any banking facilities.

TSB is the latest bank in the town to announce it will close its branch in Frome. The bank said in a statement it wanted to "keep open the branches that are used the most".

Local businesses and people who still rely on cash said they were concerned by the news.

"It's people who are more vulnerable, the elderly, people with disabilities, people who like to work with cash because it helps them budget better - they are the people that will be affected most," Sam Evans, from community group Prosper Frome, said.

Prosper Frome was set up in the hope of opening a community banking hub in the town.

"It's been very slow," Ms Evans said.

"We put in three applications and we've been turned down three times and told that we don't need it yet in Frome.

"The biggest impact I think is for smaller businesses like my own - we deal with cash quite a bit, our customers like to pay in cash and it's very difficult to get coin cash."

Antony Hick, owner of Frome clothing shop Assembly, said: "I think to have access to cash is still important.

"So if there's at least a couple of cash machines or even some form of banking hub that would be great, but what I find even more irritating is the beautiful empty buildings."

Meanwhile, the cheese and wine shop The Stores has already gone cash-less.

Sarah Helliwell, who runs the shop, said: "We knew when we opened there were already not a lot of banks around.

"So we decided to not take cash when we opened because there is nowhere for us to pay cash in."

TSB said in a statement: "We remain committed to face-to-face services through a branch network that covers the whole country, and over 90% of our customers are within a 20-minute drive to their closest branch, or the location of a Money Confidence Expert.

"To make sure our branch services reflect the current and future needs of our customers, we want to keep open the branches that are used the most.

"But sometimes this means that we have to close some branches or reduce our opening hours."

The TSB branch will remain open for another four months, and then the nearest bank will be in Midsomer Norton.

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