Bank to close its branch in Melton Mowbray next week

The High Street bank is one of 26 NatWest is closing this month across the country because more people prefer to use online services.

It will cease to trade in the town at noon on Monday September 29 with customers in future being told to use nearby branches at Grantham or Loughborough or the Post Office on Welby Lane, in Melton.

NatWest say the closure decision was made because personal customer transactions at the Melton branch fell by 57 per cent in the five years to January 2025 and 75 per cent of personal customers there chose to use online services or the mobile banking app between February 2024 and January 2025.

Figures also show 230 customers visited the town branch on average each month – the equivalent of around seven or eight people a day – while only 102 business customers did so.

The closure has intensified calls for a banking hub to be set up in Melton with other banks have closed up in the town in recent years, including Barclays in 2022.

Many elderly people say they are unable to digital services and some residents say they are unable to easily to travel to other towns for services.

Towns in Leicestershire and Rutland which have their own banking hubs are Syston, Oakham, Market Harborough and Lutterworth, with Ashby to join them in 2026.

Banks operate from these hubs on a rota basis during the week.