A MAJOR bank has announced it will be closing two of its branches in Hampshire.

The Bitterne and Romsey high street branches of HSBC will close on October 14 with staff working their relocated to other branches.

According to HSBC the closure come as 93 per cent of contact with the bank is through telephones, internet or smartphones and 97 per cent of cash withdrawals are made through ATMs.

But the closures will mean for residents in Bitterne, the nearest high street HSBC is in Southampton's Above Bar Street, while in Romsey the closest bank is in Totton, almost seven miles away.

Malcolm Pain, chairman of the Bitterne Park Residents Association, said: "It will be disastrous, it is the only HSBC available is Bitterne which is convenient for people in Bittern Park, now they will have to go right into Southampton which is ridiculous.

"In this area there are a lot of retired people who don't use a computer.

"And it is not just the occasional user who will be affected, but tradesmen and shopkeepers in Bitterne who want to pay money in somewhere if you trade in hard cash."

Romsey Town councillor Nicky Baily said: "A lot of the people are elderly and walk into town to do there banking and I personally hate the machines where I put my cheques in, I like the personal touch of the tillers.

"I bank with HSBC and I will 100 per cent change banks to somewhere in Romsey and I think HSBC are about to loose a lot of customers.

"They pay all these salaries to the top dogs and it is the little people that get trodden on by the facilities closing, why does the head of HSBC not take a cut in their wages and keep the branch open?"

Pete Speirs, president of the Romsey Chamber of Commerce, said: “The majority of people in Romsey during the day are older people and they prefer to see people rather than go on the internet.

“I understand where the banks are coming from but they provide a service. If people have got to go to Southampton for their banking, they may change their banks.”

A spokesperson from HSBC said: "We continually review our branch network to make sure our branches are in the right locations for our customers and we have a sustainable network for the future.

"Over the past five years, we have seen an overall reduction of footfall at our branches of more than 40 per cent, and sometimes we have to make the difficult decision to close branches.

"These are not decisions we take lightly and we work closely with those impacted, including customers, to help them understand their options."