THE Ferndown branch of HSBC will close this summer, only a year after the office in Wimborne went.

The banking giant has announced that 62 of its branches around the UK will be shut down this year, with the Ferndown branch, in Ringwood Road, closing its doors on Friday, May 12.

Town councillor John Muggleton said the move would be "a blow" for residents.

According to the bank, the closures are prompted by higher and rapidly increasing numbers of customers using online banking services. There were already plans in place to shut 55 branches this year, after 223 were closed in 2016.

Cllr Muggleton said: "This will be a big deal for residents, especially after the Wimborne branch closed last year.

"Of course this will be an opportunity to move people into other forms of banking, but we live in an area of quite aged people and not all are computer literate, nor do they want to be."

The firm says that over the past five years the number of customers using its branches has fallen by almost 40 per cent, with 93 per cent of customers’ contact with the bank completed via telephone, internet or smartphone, and 97 per cent of cash withdrawals made via ATM.

Francesca McDonagh, HSBC's head of retail banking and wealth management, said: "The way our customers bank with us is changing.

"More customers are using mobile and internet banking than ever before, innovation such as Touch and Voice ID has proved extremely popular, and fewer people are using branches.

"More than 90 per cent of our interactions with customers are now through our digital channels - an increase from 80 per cent last year."

She added: "We will have fewer but better branches, with more empowered front line colleagues using a greater range of technology to support all our customers' needs."

The bank plans to offer individual advice sessions for its customers at affected branches to demonstrate how to use telephone, mobile and internet banking. It has also set up a partnership with the Post Office so customers can continue day-to-day banking there.

The Ferndown Post Office in Pennys Walk is one such location.

Cllr Muggleton said this move was an "incredible fob".

"The Post Office is already reduced in coverage, and one only has to go there to see the queues."

A survey by consumer group Which? in December found HSBC had closed the most branches of any UK bank in 2015 and 2016, more than 25 per cent of its outlets.