ANOTHER West Somerset bank is due to be lost next year after HSBC announced a new raft of UK branch closures.

The banking group, which operates in 63 countries worldwide, said its Minehead branch would be among 114 to close in the coming year.

It has earmarked the Wellington Square premises for closure during May, 2023.

The decision is another financial blow to the town after the loss three years ago of its Barclays Bank branch.

UK distribution managing director Jackie Uhi said: “People are changing the way they bank and footfall in many branches is at an all-time low, with no signs of it returning.

“Banking remotely is becoming the norm for the vast majority of us.”

Ms Uhi said it was never easy to close a branch and such decisions were not taken lightly, and HSBC would invest in ‘post-closure’ measures such as offering free tablet devices to help customers bank digitally, and coaching help for those who needed it to migrate to digital banking.

Minehead will be left with just NatWest, TSB, and Santander banks in the town centre.

Minehead BID chairman Graham Sizer said HSBC had been a dominant presence in the heart of the town centre for many decades.

Mr Sizer said: “It will be a sad loss to the landscape but at the same time a sign of the times. With such an aged population still wanting to bank in the traditional way we have been lucky until now to hold on to all the banks we have. The whole high street has been under pressure from on-line service alternatives and there may well be more casualties in the future. The staff at HSBC are wonderful and as a customer myself I take this opportunity to wish them all well from next May.”