The mayor of Tenby has slammed Barclays Bank for 'disloyalty' over plans to close its branch in her town.

The Western Telegraph reported on Monday that the High Street banking giant is pulling out of the resort, where it has had a presence for many years.

Town mayor Cllr Sam Skyrme-Blackhall said she was ‘so very disappointed’ that Barclays are planning to close.

She added: “For many years, many local people and local businesses have been loyal customers and given Barclays their support. How sad that they are not to be supported in return.”

Cllr Skyrme-Blackhall, who is also the Pembrokeshire County Council member for Tenby South, said she will be urging the bank to retain its cashpoint in Upper Frog Street.

The branch, in High Street, adjacent to St Mary’s Church, is earmarked for closure on November 16 2022.

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The closure of Barclays will leave Tenby with just one representative of the UK banking giants - HSBC, which is in Tudor Square.

In recent years, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander have all left the town.

NatWest's mobile banking van visits for 30 minutes once a week, while the Lloyds van calls for an hour and a quarter every fortnight.

Cllr Skyrme-Blackhall commented: “No doubt Barclays will say that they will provide some other services, some token van parked up in a car park once a week, and that online banking is available.

"But not everyone can do online banking. How do they manage?

“I also have concerns about cash deposit services. There is still a great need for cash collection – not everything is paid for with a card.

“So access to cashpoints and cash deposit services are vital to businesses. I am asking Barclays if they will maintain the cashpoint and what arrangements they intend to make for deposits?

"The only consolation is that in Tenby we have our award-winning local post office who provide excellent support and advice."

Barclays said that just 28 regular customers used the Tenby branch exclusively for their banking, and do not interact with the service in other ways.

In 2019, the Tenby branch had a stay of execution when it was named as one of the 100 that Barclays pledged to keep open ‘until at least October 2021’.

Western Telegraph: Barclays Bank in Tenby's High Street.Barclays Bank in Tenby's High Street.

A Barclays spokesperson said: “The decision to close a branch is never an easy one. However, customers are increasingly using alternatives to branches to do their banking. As a result, we are seeing a sustained fall in branch visits across the UK.

“This is reflected at the Tenby branch where there has been a 47 per cent reduction in counter transactions in the two years to March 2022. In addition, 86 per cent of our Tenby customers are also using different ways to bank.

“We will work with our customers and provide alternative options to ensure they can continue to manage their money and receive financial expertise when required.

"This includes working with the local community to find different, more flexible ways for our colleagues to continue to provide local banking support, such as through pop-up presences.”

Barclays says that customers have a wide range of options to complete their banking including the Barclays app, telephone banking, online banking and video banking.

The closest Barclays branch is at 32 High Street, Haverfordwest and Guildhall Square, Carmarthen.