Natwest bank closures: Three Yorkshire branches to shut - as Ilkley's is only used by five customers to do personal banking

Natwest told the BBC that just five people used the Ilkley site for personal banking, though it did have 87 businesses using it regularly.

The Shipley and Wetherby branches are also among 43 closing nationwide.

Demand for high street banking services has dropped as customers transition to online banking.

The Ilkley branch will close on February 21 next year.

Staff at the 43 affected sites have been mostly redeployed within the business, with only six jobs at risk nationally.

Some of Yorkshire’s smaller towns have been left without a high street banking presence altogether in recent years as the focus has shifted to larger city sites – though concerns have been raised about a subsequent lack of ATM access and elderly customers struggling to travel long distances to use a bank.