Visitors to Frome are often impressed by the landmark buildings, the charming streets and the arts scene.

But until recently they were also impressed that Frome, as befits a market town, still had a bank branch on every corner.

But that is about to change, and the bank closures have now come to town.

Figures show 5,162 bank and building society branches have closed since January 2015 with a further 206 branches set to close by the end of 2023, according to Which? magazine. They will include the town's HSBC bank and the NatWest on the corner of Cork Street.

Now a new group in the town is hoping to try and find alternatives to the bank branch closures, or even ambitiously, try and reverse those already planned.

There has already been one meeting, specifically involving the Frome business community who don't know where they will be able to access loans for micro businesses, or where to go for business advice and of course where they can deposit cash.

The group admits that saving Frome's banks may be far-fetched, but add : " if anywhere can do this, Frome can! If you have ideas, please join us for our second meeting. " They are meeting May 4, from 6pm at the Cheese & Grain.

For more information contact Jean Boulton on [email protected]

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