A petition with thousands of signatures has been sent to bank bosses after they annonced the closure of a town centre branch.

Almost 5,000 people have signed the petition in the hope of keeping the TSB branch in Sheerness High Street open.

The closure - expected to happen in September - will leave only Nationwide on the Island, which has a population of more than 40,000.

TSB’s decision left Islanders stunned as it follows HSBC, Barclays, Halifax and NatWest which all quit the town in recent years.

The company says it has not taken the decision to close the branch “lightly” but points to a 43% decrease in customer transactions in Sheerness between December 2019 and December 2023 as a reason for the move. This period includes the pandemic.

One customer has been protesting the decision by asking people to sign his petition as he believes the closure will see the town centre become a “ghost town”.

Gerry Cunningham, who has lived in Minster for 24 years, has been collecting signatures for just over three weeks since Friday, May 14.

With 4,970 people signing the paper petition, the 65-year-old has now paid £18 postage to send it to the headquarters of the bank in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The former Abbott Laboratories’ security guard had been a Halifax customer but left after it shut in May last year.

He has been with TSB for just over a year and will not be changing banks again so will have to travel 23 miles to Chatham or 33 miles to Bluewater to use in-person services.

Mr Cunningham told KentOnline that he had to cut his planned six-week campaign short as the branch had put out a sign that the bank was closing on September 24.

He said: “I am so grateful for all those who signed the petition and delighted with the response from the people of the Island who want this bank to stay.

“It is a shame that the bank has put up the sign as people now think it’s definitely closing and are now not bothering to give their signatures.

“However, the petition shows how much the community cares about this bank so I am proud even if it does go.”

TSB announced it was closing Sheerness alongside 36 others across the UK on Wednesday, May 8.

It says most of its customers are doing their banking digitally and believes the closure will provide a better balance of digital and face-to-face services.

It claims more than 95% of banking transactions are now being made using mobile, online and other ways to bank, instead of in its branches which saw 2.5million fewer transactions than in 2020.

It will leave the group with 175 branches across the country, as well as other face-to-face banking services.

While KentOnline was present when Mr Cunningham launched the petition, a steady stream of customers could be seen using the branch.