BANK bosses have denied that the Accrington branch of NatWest is to be closed after some work is moved out of town.

A letter has been circulated to account holders at the St James Street branch informing them about changes affecting the branch.

The letter to customers states: "As part of our continued improvement to customer service, much of the behind the scenes work currently undertaken here at the branch will be moved to new specialist centres.

"Although we are making these changes, I would like to emphasise that your account will remain at this branch." The letter adds that day-to-day work, such as processing standing orders and direct debits, will be dealt with at a new account management centre in Bolton from July 27.

Telephone calls to the Accrington branch will be handled at a customer enquiry centre in Liverpool, while borrowing will be dealt with in Manchester.

A spokeswoman for NatWest's regional office, based in Liverpool, said: "We are not closing our Accrington branch and we have no plans to do so in the future.

"The changes are part of a much larger centralisation programme aimed at providing the highest level of customer service and branch services will not be affected in any way.

"We encourage our customers to use the Accrington branch as usual as there will be absolutely no impact on services provided there."

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