THREE former Nationwide branches in Dorset have gone up for sale for a combined total almost £900,000.

The building society closed branches in West Moors, Highcliffe and Boscombe earlier this year – a decision it said was “really difficult” and not taken lightly.

Residents in Highcliffe now have to travel to either Christchurch town centre or New Milton to access services.

The three branches are all being sold by Nationwide through the same estate agent.

The premises in Christchurch Road, Boscombe, has been given an asking price of £425,000, while the smaller sites in Station Road, West Moors, Ferndown, and Lymington Road, Highcliffe, have both been put on the market for £230,000.

Two flats that sit about the retail premises are included in the Boscombe listing, which will reportedly both be vacant upon sale.

The Highcliffe and West Moors locations also include a single flat, respectively.

Nationwide also closed a branch at Canford Cliffs earlier this year, however, there is no evidence of this currently being on the market.

When the branches were closed in January, the building society said it was investing £7million into its other premises.

Speaking at the time when the closures were announced, Mandy Beech, member experience director, said: “This is a really difficult decision and not one we’ve taken lightly.

“Whilst this is a really difficult decision for us to make, we want to make sure we’re investing in services we can provide in other locations.

“We’re trying to really open them up to make sure we can have great conversations side by side with members as opposed to traditional behind the glass conversations.”

The closure of the Highcliffe branch, which left the village without any banks or building societies, was met with disdain and objections from residents.

As reported, a petition signed by more than 300 people, along with a letter written by former Dorset and Christchurch councillor Colin Jamieson, was sent to the chief executive of Nationwide to call for a change of heat over the the branch’s closure.

Nationwide had issued a “branch promise” which said it would keep a high street presence until at least May 31, 2021, in every town and city where it had a branch in March 2019.

However, the details in the pledge stated: “As we look to create better branches for our members, it may make sense to close or merge some older branches in a few areas. These will make way for newer, more accessible branches.”

UPDATED: This article has been revised to clarify that the closed stores are in Highcliffe, Boscombe and West Moors. The branch in Victoria Road, Ferndown, remains open.