Politicians have spoken out of their anger at the Royal Bank of Scotland – which yesterday announced the closure of 62 RBS branches and 197 NatWest branches resulting in 680 job losses – after the state-backed lender said more people are choosing mobile or online banking.

NatWest branches in Barnard Castle, Ferryhill, Newton Aycliffe and Peterlee, plus banks in Richmond, Stokesley, Pickering and Ripon, will close.

RBS, which took over NatWest in 2000, is still 72 per cent owned by the taxpayer, is the third this week to announce branch closures and job cuts, following Lloyds and Yorkshire Building Society.

Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson has fixed a meeting with bank bosses for Wednesday, December 13, in London.

"I'm really concerned about this," he said. "It's another facility taken out of local communities and while I know there's a move to online banking not everybody uses that. I want to find out from NatWest the reason why it's happening."

Once NatWest closes its doors in Ferryhill, the town will be left with no banks, save for a Post Office which provides a limited banking service.

Reacting to the announcement, Durham county councillor Peter Atkinson labelled the move a "blow" for the town which would exclude parts of the community.

“I’m really disappointed. In a town like Ferryhill, a lot of people rely on the NatWest bank and this means they will have to travel.

“They say more work is going online but not everybody has access. Not all older people are au fait with technology and there are implications on the average person – not everybody can afford internet or broadband.

“I think it’s a disgrace. NatWest is a bank in the centre of Ferryhill and people have changed their banks because it was so central. It’s well used and there are customers going in and out of there all the time.”

The closures will take effect in May and June next year and 1,000 roles will be affected.

Bosses say they hope to mitigate the impact through an agreement with the Post Office, which provides customers with a range of banking services.

However, Mayor of Barnard Castle, Sandra Moorhouse, said businesses and residents in the town and the vicinity needed the varied range of services that the likes of NatWest can provide.

"It's a flourishing little town with lots of independent retailers who need somewhere to bank," she said.

"We are more of a cash society here than perhaps a lot of places. To not have a bank where you can deal with services is ridiculous.

"Broadband access is a problem for farmers up the dale and it can be extremely difficult for older people.

"Barnard Castle is the centre for quite a wide area, for isolated areas and people who are out on a limb.

"They need to access banking services and speak to people to sort out all sorts of things that banks offer.

"With another bank going, there will be access problems to others who find it difficult to travel."

Mayor of Richmond, Stuart Parsons described it as an "appalling" decision which showed a lack of respect for the taxpayers who helped bail RBS out.

"It's dreadful news. Luckily we have many other banks present so we're not entirely reliant on NatWest but hopefully customers will change their accounts to a bank that is willing to invest in our town.

"RBS should behave a little better to us - the people who helped save it. They have taken our money but don't want to invest in the communities who have continued to support it."

RBS hopes to limit the number of redundancies to 680 by redeploying the remaining staff.

An RBS spokesman said: "More and more of our customers are choosing to do their everyday banking online or on mobile.

"Since 2014 the number of customers using our branches across the UK has fallen by 40 per cent and mobile transactions have increased by 73 per cent over the same period.

"Over five million customers now use our mobile banking app and one in five only bank with us digitally."