Online banking is beginning to spell the end for traditional high street branches, as another Medway bank closes its doors.

HSBC closed its base in Rainham Shopping Centre on Friday, October 9, leaving customers with a five-mile journey to the nearest HSBC branch in Gillingham High Street.

A spokesman from HSBC said: “We never take the decision to close a branch lightly, and we understand it’s unsettling for the local community.

"Unfortunately, with an increase in the use of online and telephone banking over the past few years the use of the Rainham branch has fallen significantly, and we took the difficult decision to close it.”

The bank closed its branch at Hempstead Valley in 2014 and announced last week that its base in Sheerness is set to shut in February 2016.

It still has branches in Chatham, Gillingham, Strood and Walderslade.

Other Medway banks to close over the last few years include NatWest in Hoo and Watling Street, Gillingham, and Lloyds, also in Watling Street.

The former Barclays at Star Hill is still empty more than two years after it closed, and the Barclays Branch in Gillingham closed in February this year.