People living in Cliftonville will be left without a bank in their town after Nationwide Building Society announced its intention to close the branch.

Bosses at the bank say the branch is less used than others and they will shut the Northdown Road facility on February 21.

Ward councillor Heather Keen called it a great shame and says it will impact those without their own transport.

"We have a lot of people in Cliftonville who don't have their own transport or who have mobility issues, which means something that is usually quite simple, like going to the bank, can become more difficult," she said.

"We're very sad that this is the decision - unfortunately we've seen it happen with lots of branches.

"We've had lots of new shops open in Cliftonville and so it seems a great shame to close it at this time, with all the regeneration that's happening."

A spokesman for Nationwide says the building society always does its best to keep branches open, but not enough people are using the Cliftonville branch.

In a statement on its website, the bank said: "There are some places where we have more than one branch.

"And sometimes one of those is used much less than the others or will cost too much to bring up to the standards we believe you deserve.

"Unfortunately, that’s what’s happened in the case of Cliftonville.

"We will still have four branches within a five-mile radius, including Margate, Broadstairs, Birchington and Ramsgate."

HSBC bank shut in 2016 and the building has been opened as Banks Ale and Wine House.

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