Newbury's Royal Bank of Scotland branch to close later this year

Branch among 162 shutting across England and Wales

Newbury's Royal Bank of Scotland branch is to close later this year.

The branch, in Market Place, is among 162 that will shut across England and Wales, resulting in 792 job losses.

RBS said that the closures were linked to it not needing to sell its Williams & Glyn business, meaning that branches within close proximity to each other will be closed to avoid overlaps.

Newbury's RBS will close on November 28 and is one listed as being between 0.6 miles and 2.5 miles of another RBS or NatWest branch.

The closest NatWest branches, other than Market Place, are in Basingstoke and Tilehurst.

The announcement follows impending NatWest branch closures in Thatcham, Hungerford and Mortimer later this year.

An RBS spokesman said: “We are no longer launching Williams & Glyn as a challenger bank, and we now have two branch networks operating in close proximity to each other; NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland, in England and Wales.

“As a result we have had to review our overall branch footprint in England and Wales and we’ve made the difficult decision to close a number of Royal Bank of Scotland branches. Customers of Royal Bank of Scotland in England and Wales will be able to use NatWest branches instead for their everyday banking needs.

“We now provide our customers with more ways to bank with us than ever before – customers can choose from a range of digital, face-to-face and local options to suit their needs.”