THE last bank left in St John's has come forward to reassure residents that it is not closing down.

Locals feared that the Lloyds Bank in New Road, St John's, Worcester, was closing down after the building appeared for sale online.

But a spokesman for the bank wants to reassure residents that they have not made a decision to close the branch.

The bank is advertised on Right Move and a sales brochure for the building describes it as 'ideally suited for commercial or residential development'.

Locals fear losing the bank would increase isolation among elderly people and force local businesses to spend more money.

Cllr Richard Udall, who represents St John's on the city and county council, said: "It will leave a third of the city without any banking facilities.

"Banks brought people into the community and when they visited the bank they went to other small businesses.

"All the other banks have turned their backs on the local community.

"I know there are falling numbers of people going to banks but some people still use them. Especially older people."

Cllr Udall warned that closing the bank would make it harder for people to access their money and increase isolation among the elderly.

"Local businesses depend on local banks, if you have to go further afield that's time taken away and then there's car parking on top," he said.

The councillor remembers when there was a Barclays, a HSBC and a NatWest in St John's.

Tristan Meier, aged 30, manager of H Dayus Butchers, in St John's, said: "Lots of people use it.

"A fair few of our customers use Lloyds, local people and old people. It's just convenient, especially for businesses.

"With NatWest we have to drive to town, pay for parking and go to the bank, which is an hour out of our day."

Mr Meier has worked at the butchers for 12 years and remembers when the NatWest branch, in St John's, closed on August 23, 2011.

"It seems to be a growing trend with online banking and things moving to the city centre. I'd like to see banks moving into St John's," he added.

A spokesman for Lloyds bank said their lease is unaffected by the freeholder's decision to sell the building.

"The lease has a few years to run. No decision has been made to close the branch, I can understand why the advert has caused concern," the spokesman said.

"If we do make the difficult decision to close a branch, we would always communicate our intention to our colleagues, customers and the local community first."