Three NatWest banks in Kent are to close.

Branches at Sutton Road in Maidstone, at the High Street in Sheerness and in Cranbrook High Street are among the latest list of 23 closures across England and Wales announced by the banking giant.

Sutton Road and Sheerness will pull down the shutters for the last time on May 4. Cranbrook will close on May 30.

The NatWest in Maidstone High Street is not affected.

Oliver Eakin is a Conservative councillor for Swale, which includes Sheerness. He said: "It’s very sad to see yet another bank closing in the High Street because of online banking.

"This will mean even more people and businesses may need to travel off the Island in order to access their money.

"NatWest has thankfully confirmed that many day-to-day services can still be carried out at any Post Office on the Island.

"I would encourage as many people as possible to try to support our local Post Office.”

The town has already been rocked by the closure of Barclays last August and the announcement last month that Halifax is also to shut.

HSBC left the Island many years ago. Its premises are now a martial arts centre. TSB and Nationwide will be the last two remaining.

Most of the banking business has been absorbed by businessman Colin Barrett.

He converted part of his corner shop into the Clock Tower Post Office in January 2018 when the town's main Post Office closed. He said: "I daren't close. The town needs us more than ever now."

Kim Fletcher is the chairman of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst Parish Council.

He said: "The closure is not a surprise. The number of in-branch transactions has been diminishing for a while.

"We already lost our Barclays branch years ago, and more recently our HSBC.

"Fortunately we still have a Lloyds, the Nationwide and the Post Office, plus an ATM at the Co-op, so it's not a disaster.

He said: "But it will make it difficult for businesses particularly who perhaps have cash to bank.

"We just have to hope Lloyds will accept new accounts because there will be people wanting to move over.

"Not everyone is happy with banking online.

"Sadly, some people without the internet are being left behind by this constant pursuit of putting everything online.

"And there's always the problem of no longer having anyone to talk to if you have a problem that doesn't for their website algorithms."

Alan Bartlett (Con) who represents Shepway North Ward at Maidstone council said the closure of the Sutton Road branch would be a major blow.

He said: "As soon as I heard, I wrote to NatWest to ask them to reconsider.

"Shepway is a relatively deprived area and people can ill-afford the extra expense - or time - of travelling into the town centre to do their banking.

"In addition, there is quiet a high proportion of elderly folk, who - like my own grandmother - would simply not be able to do online banking.

"NatWest should keep the branch open."

Lloyds, TSB and Barclays have already announced closures earlier this month, making a total of 87 branch closures nationwide already this year.

The Lloyds banks in Whitstable and Gillingham are among those closing.