A banking giant is set to close three branches around south Bucks after people using the branches reportedly reduced by almost half over the past five years.

NatWest will close its Princes Risborough, Chesham and Chalfont St Peter branches next June after it was revealed that 62 per cent of customers choose to bank digitally.

The bank said since 2012, transactions in the Princes Risborough branch have gone down by 37 per cent with only 36 customers visiting the branch on a weekly basis.

It also found that since 2014, the number of people using NatWest branches across the UK has fallen by 40 per cent but during the same time, mobile transactions have gone up by 73 per cent, with 1.1 billion mobile and online transactions carried out by its customers in the first half of 2017 – a 41 per cent increase.

Spokesman Kate Visser 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.

“We are committed to ensuring our customers and communities are able to continue accessing quality banking services.

“We are following the Access to Banking Standard and we have made our decision after careful consideration of a wide range of factors including changes in customer usage of the branch over a long period of time: how often customers are using the branch and the types of transactions they undertake; the number of customers who only bank via the branch; and the other ways our customers can bank locally.”

She added that the bank had created ‘TechXperts’ to help train customers not familiar with online or mobile banking, until the branch closes, as well as a new ‘community banker’ – who will provide customers with personal assistance and support to access the bank’s non-cash services, as well as help with achieving their financial plans and goals.

The Chalfont St Peter branch will close on June 6, Chesham on June 13 and Princes Risborough on June 28.