BANKERS are set to shut down three struggling branches next year.

NatWest banks in Caversham, Mortimer and the University of Reading will close next June.

On average, just 53 people visit the Caversham branch per week, with 25 heading to Mortimer and 28 using the university's branch.

Banking chiefs announced today [Friday] a decision has been made to shut down the three branches in order for NatWest to plug a hole in its spending.

A spokesman said: "We are communicating with our customers affected by the closure and proactively contacting vulnerable customers and regular branch users.

"We have extended the time between announcing our decision and the branch closure to six months; this has been done so that we can ensure our customers have enough time to consider the right banking options for them and to give us time to support them one-to-one during the transition."