RESIDENTS in Woodstock have been left without a high street bank after Barclays closed its branch.

It was the final bank left in the town after NatWest moved out in 2014.

Barclays in Park Street shut its doors for the final time on Friday and its branch in Burford will close today, as the bank said it has just five regular customers.

Matthew Bell, community banking spokesman for Barclays in the Thames Valley, said: "At Barclays Woodstock branch customer usage has continued to decline by 12 per cent in the last year alone and nearly half of our branch customers now regularly use alternative branches."

Staff old and new, including Marian Payne, who used to work at the Woodstock branch, gathered outside last Friday to mark its last day of serving customers.

Miss Payne, 63, who is retired and lives in Witney, said she was sorry to see the branch close.

She worked at the Woodstock branch from 1970 until 1995, ending up in the securities department.

She added: "I started at the bottom and ended up in securities – I worked there for a long time and I think it's a shame that the branch has closed.

"If it had remained open it could have been very useful to customers from the town.

"Woodstock can be a busy place – there is Blenheim Palace nearby and that brings in lots of tourists."

Woodstock town councillor Sharone Parnes said the NatWest cashpoint was temporarily out of order on the day of the closure, which highlighted the problem residents now faced.

Traders in Woodstock, including the Wake Up to Woodstock group, complained following the closure of the NatWest branch in 2014, claiming it would have an impact on trade.

Dennis Allen, of traders' group Wake Up to Woodstock, said: "This is definitely inconvenient for visitors and not what we would have wanted.

"But the Post Office is able to conduct banking transactions so some traders are going there.

"I would have thought one bank in the town would have been viable – there are a huge number of visitors to Blenheim Palace every year and to the town centre itself."

Chris Baylis, former chairman of Wake Up to Woodstock, and a resident of the town, said: "I think this is a crying shame for Woodstock.

"It has an older demographic and a lot of residents liked to do personal banking.

"I think the branch brought people into the town – this is a reflection of what is happening on the high street generally."