A DECISION to close a bank branch in Haxby has been labelled ‘crazy’.

Cllr Tony Richardson represents the town for City of York Council and has lamented the decision to close the NatWest branch for good on October 2.

However, the banking giant says customers are no longer going into the branch as much, instead choosing to transfer money online or use telephone banking.

However, Cllr Richardson says this goes against what he has witnessed in recent months.

He said: “My reaction is they will be taking access away from NatWest because the only option is going into York or Heslington.

“Most days I go in there it’s busy because people go in to take out money and businesses use the local accounts. It’s crazy given we are a town and the area we cover.”

The Haxby closure leaves customers facing a six-mile trip to York to speak to someone face to face, but customers will still be able to use telephone banking.

NatWest branches in Selby, Tadcaster, Thirsk and Knaresborough are also closing.

They are among 150 NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland branches affected, resulting in hundreds of job losses, after what the bank described as a “dramatic shift” in customer banking.

A NatWest spokesman said: “Between 2010 and 2015, mobile and online transactions have increased by over 400 per cent and mobile transactions alone have increased by 1,350per cent. Since 2011 we have seen the number of transactions in the Haxby branch decline by 36per cent.

“These customers are actively choosing to bank in different ways, with 61per cent of customers choosing to use our digital banking options.”

Hambleton District Council leader and local ward councillor Mark Robson said the closure of the Thirsk branch was a blow, particularly as HSBC had just announced the closure of a branch in nearby Easingwold. The corporation announced 62 branches will shut, including ones in Stokesley and Kirkbymoorside.

The Yorkshire Bank also announced this year it will be closing dozens of branches in North Yorkshire and the North-East.

Cllr Robson said: “It makes you wonder how much longer before the rest of the banks will close. It’s the loss of another facility for people. I’m aware of a number of people who have already moved their account when their local branch closed.

“I know banks say people are increasingly banking on the internet, but not everybody has that capacity.”