NATWEST branches in Lexden and Frinton are set to close this September.

The two banks are among more than 150 Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest branches to close with around 470 job losses, after a "dramatic shift" in customer banking.

The Frinton branch will close on September 25 and the Lexden branch the following day.

Frinton councillor Nick Turner, responsible for commercialisation, branded it an "arbitrary and poor" decision which will have repercussions.

He has been a Natwest customer since the 1960s but slipping service in-branch and this latest move means he will be taking his custom elsewhere.

He said: “It’s the only way they will learn. They keep whittling away and reducing services in favour of apps.

“I realise there are major generational differences between baby boomers like myself and millennials, in terms of our values, but I’m sure the stats here for people visiting the branch are not as bad as they are nationwide, which begs the question: where is the need?”

With the Natwest Connaught Avenue branch closing, just two banks will remain – Barclays and Lloyds – plus Nationwide and Saffron Building Society.

Mr Turner says it will inconvenience business customers and add more pressure to the East of England Co-op Post Office nearby.

He added: “I feel a great deal of sympathy for people who do their business in the town because to do their banking now is going to take closer to an hour out of a person’s day, rather than ten minutes because it’s a small post office.

“I’m really appalled at it and I think they will lose a lot of customers in Frinton.”

But Brian Jarvis, Conservative councillor in Lexden, said the closure of its branch could actually benefit the community.

He added: "There are still a number of banks in the town itself. The one in Lexden has caused a lot of problems in terms of parking when they can't get in the car park.

"My attention has often been drawn to people parking on double yellow lines.

"But in terms of branch banking it is a great pity because the country used to have a network of branches, but times have changed."

The company said it had considered branch usage and the alternative ways customers can bank, adding: "We have seen a dramatic shift in the way our customers are choosing to bank, with more using mobile and online over traditional branch counters.

"Simple transactions undertaken in branch at NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland have fallen by 43 per cent since 2010, while online and mobile transactions have increased by more than 400 per cent."

Around 770 staff will be affected by the closures, but 300 will be moved to other jobs.

Following the closures there will be 151 RBS and 856 NatWest branches left.