by Trevor Sturgess

A building society is closing its Ashford branch after 10 years.

For the past few years, members of Kent Reliance Building Society have been able to deposit and withdraw cash at Gould and Harrison, the estate agents and financial advisers.

But the Chatham-based society says that too few people use the agency and is closing the operation from September 25. It has not operated a full branch in Ashford for around 10 years.

Account holders who still want to use a Kent Reliance agency will have to go to the nearest ones at Canterbury or Maidstone. Others can sign up for a Kent Reliance postal or Internet account, or switch to another building society or bank in Ashford.

Rob Procter, pictured, Kent Reliance deputy chief executive, said the decision to close the agency had been made in January. An alternative agency had been sought but without success. Members in the Ashford area had been notified in a letter.

Fewer than 200 members used the agency a month, he said, with most account-holders choosing a postal or Internet account.

“Very few people go into the agency office. The final nail in the coffin was when interest rates dropped to 0.5 per cent. Branch-based accounts have very low interest so many people transferred across to postal or Internet-based accounts for a better rate.”

To reduce costs, Kent Reliance now operates only two branches in the county – Chatham and Hempstead Valley, Gillingham – plus a number of agencies. In the past year alone, it has closed agencies in Sittingbourne, Ramsgate, Gillingham and Sevenoaks