STROUD and Swindon Building Society is set to halve its presence in the town that bears half its name.

The firm is proposing to end its 20-year stay in Old Town by closing its Wood Street branch, and concentrating on its other branch in Regent Street.

The four staff working in Wood Street were told of the company's plans last week, and a final decision will be made in April, at the end of a legal consultation period with staff.

The company's customer service director, Simon Whitwam, said the Wood Street branch was facing the axe simply because there would not be enough customers in Old Town to keep it profitable in future years.

"We've taken the view that the business potential in that area of the town is particularly limited," Mr Whitwam said.

He claimed that the limited amount of housing development currently planned for Old Town would mean a small amount of potential customers living there.

This is despite the fact there are new homes being built around the corner in High Street, with more taking shape on the Devizes Road car park site as part of the Old Town regeneration scheme and further housing planned for the old Fads store site, also in Devizes Road.

Staff now working in Wood Street will be offered jobs in other branches, such as Regent Street, Highworth, and Wootton Bassett, if they are available.

Mr Whitwam also said there were frequent vacancies within the firm, but added that he could not rule out redundancies amongst workers who could not be found suitable jobs.

Mr Whitwam said he hoped customers would transfer their accounts to the Regent Street branch, which he said would be refurbished and offer an improved range of services.

"It's in a good location, and it's where we see the potential in Swindon," he said.

He said he expected to lose some customers who would not want to go up and down Victoria Road to do their banking, but said Stroud and Swindon had planned for that.

"We have closed branches before and we always expect a certain amount of run off," he said.

One customer who will be "running off" as a result of the proposed closure is pensioner June Taylor, from Okus Road.

Mrs Taylor has been a customer of the Wood Street branch since it was owned by the Swindon Permanent Building Society, but vowed: "I won't carry on with the Stroud and Swindon now, not at all."

Mr Whitwam said that no decision had yet been made about what to do with the branch building once it closes.