ALMOST half of all banks in the Bridgwater and West Somerset parliamentary constituency have closed for good since 2015.

With the recent announcement that the Fore Street branch of Halifax will leave the town in April next year, that number is only set to increase.

Barclays closed its branch on Bridgwater High Street in April.

Despite reports from other news outlets, the Lloyds Bank branch at Cornhill looks set to remain open.

A spokesperson for the banking group told the Mercury: “We have not announced to close the Lloyds Bank branch in Bridgwater.

“Whenever we do make the decision to close a branch, our colleagues, customers and the local community will be the first to know.”​

Data published by Which? shows that only nine banks currently remain in Bridgwater and West Somerset, which has lost a total of 43.8% of its banks in the past eight years.

The increased closures in recent years are often due to many customers switching to online banking rather than dealing with their money in-store at a local branch.

Despite this, Which? says physical banks are essential for those who do not or cannot engage with the digital revolution.

"This is particularly challenging in rural areas, where people suffer with poor broadband and mobile coverage, and there are higher populations of elderly customers," a Which? spokesperson added.

"Meanwhile, the average branch received 104 visits a day in 2017, compared with 140 per day in 2012.

"This represents a 26% fall in bank branch visits.

"Since then the pandemic had a huge effect on people's willingness to visit branches, whilst many branches had their opening hours drastically reduced."