Traders have spoken of being left stranded after the last-but-one bank announced it is to close its doors in Tavistock.

NatWest is to close on October 18, leaving TSB as the only bank left in a town where there were once half a dozen different high street banks.

Businesswoman Gill Abbots who runs old-world collectables shop Yesterdays on Brook Street has banked with NatWest for 60 years, since opening her account as a student at the age of 18.

She said: ‘I understand that not that many people use it anymore, but for the trading people of the town who only deal in cash, it is vital.

'I deal in cash because I have no mobile phone signal or internet connection. so I can’t operate card machines. I know it is the same for the traders in the pannier market. I’ve spoken to staff in the branch and they only found out at the beginning of last week that it was closing.’

Gill, 77, added: “They talk about us using the post office but I don’t want to discuss money in the post office, you don’t get any privacy. They are saying that the nearest branch of NatWest will be in Launceston but you can see when you are in the bank here in Tavistock that 50 per cent of the customers are well over my age. They aren’t going to want to drive to Launceston.

“I only trade in cash and other traders also do that. They need to pay that cash into the bank and they need change. I did say to the bank cashier laughingly that I’d have to keep my money under the bed. He said, you can’t do that, but I honestly think that is what I am going to do.”

Her comments were echoed by Dotty King, owner of Dot Teas Wholefoods in the Pannier Market, who said: "I hold a business account with NatWest which will make paying in cash and obtaining change an issue. It will also leave another empty shopfront in an already quiet and empty High Street, which does and will continue to stop shoppers coming into Tavistock."

She added: "NatWest have offered nothing more than a letter of updates. I shall use the post office. It is the way of the world at the moment."

NatWest has said the closure has come about because of a sharp fall in customers using the branch. It says the numbers of counter transactions by personal customers in the branch decreased by 66 per cent between January 2019 and January 2023. The bank says that no one used the branch on a regular basis in the whole of last year, 2022. However, it was used by 105 business customers during that year.

A NatWest spokesperson said: 'As with many industries, most of our customers are shifting to mobile and online banking, because it’s faster and easier for people to manage their financial lives.

'We understand and recognise that digital solutions aren’t right for everyone or every situation, and that when we close branches we have to make sure that no one is left behind. We take our responsibility seriously to support the people who face challenges in moving online, so we are investing to provide them with support and alternatives that work for them.'

Janna Sanders, manager of the Tavistock BID (Business Improvement District), is preparing to mount a challenge against the closure, saying the organisation was ‘greatly concerned’ about the impact on Tavistock traders.

"The announcement that NatWest will be closing its doors in October has sent ripples through the business community and is of great concern to us. The branch was used regularly by 105 businesses in the town last year and its closure will have considerable impact on those who rely on its services.

"The idea that business owners will have time to go and conduct their banking in Plymouth or Launceston is ridiculous. Tavistock BID will be writing a letter to NatWest voicing our objections to this proposal on behalf of our business community. We are greatly concerned that Tavistock will be left with one working bank and of the wider implications of this for our high street."

And Tavistock borough and town councillor Pete Squire, himself a NatWest customer, said: “'As a councillor I am disappointed that we are losing another bank. We have lost the Co-op, Santander, HSBC and Barclays, and now NatWest. That is five, all those have gone; That will have a big impact one on our residents and businesses. The TSB is the only one left. It is a devastating outcome, really, for a small town that is a busy one commercially.'"