A high street bank is slashing its opening hours at a town centre branch, prompting fears it could face complete closure in the near future.

NatWest customers in Wigton will no longer be able to walk into the town's branch on Thursdays from May 16, with bosses also deciding that the branch will open at 10am on Wednesdays - rather than 9.30am as it currently does.

A spokesman from NatWest told The Cumberland News  that the reduction in opening hours at their High Street branch was down to lower customer usage and changing banking habits.

It's the latest blow to the town's banking options with HSBC pulling the plug on its Wigton base in Febraury and Barclays already operating a part-time service.

The change in opening hours for NatWest has angered the bank's users and business owners in the town who fear that it may be the first step in closing the branch completely.

Richard Mattinson, the chairman of Wigton's chamber of trade group and the owner of printing business Stitch & Print, said: "It's a further erosion of the high street services that are available to people in the town. It's one less reason for people to come into the town and from a business perspective that's worrying.

"It's another nail in the coffin for the high street which is a difficult place to be running a business, but then they all are."

The changes in services has led to concerns that the bank could end up with the same fate as Maryport's branch and close completely. Dwindling numbers of transactions and customers using the branch were cited by NatWest as the reason for that closure.

"Maryport has a population that's about twice the size of Wigton and they have closed Silloth's NatWest too. My worry is that this is the first step in going in that direction," Mr Mattinson added.

"If I worked for NatWest I'd be worried. From a personal point of view it worries me that they will pull the plug on Wigton's branch."

But Mr Mattinson also admitted from a retailers point of view that if fewer customers were using the branch he could see why the company wanted to make the changes.

A NatWest spokesman said: "The reason for the changes is that banking has changed significantly over the last few years and the way our customers interact with us is changing. 

"We have to adapt to customers' needs and we review our network regularly."

Earlier this month the Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns NatWest, announced that 32 branches across the country were to close with the loss of around 600 jobs. The banking giant did not specify which branches were being axed as part of their efforts to cut costs.

NatWest branches in Silloth and Aspatria closed in February last year.