AN AMESBURY bank will close at the end of this year as more than 80 per cent of customers turn to online banking.

Barclays, on High Street, will close on December 15, after the bank revealed that only 97 regular customers exclusively use the branch for their banking.

Chris Maynard, for Barclays Salisbury, Solent and Dorset, said the way customers use banks is changing, "as people increasingly use online, telephone and mobile devices".

He said customer usage in the Amesbury branch had declined by seven per cent last year, with 83 per cent of customers using other methods of banking, and more than half regularly using alternative branches.

Mr Maynard said the drop in customers led to the "difficult decision" to close the branch.

Customers will now be required to sign up for online banking, or visit neighbouring branches in Salisbury, Andover and Devizes.