TOWN councillors in Winchcombe have added to the growing chorus of condemnation at plans to cut the opening hours of the town's only bank.

Traders and businesses in the town were furious when they found out this month that Lloyds-TSB is to close two days a week and cut its opening hours for the other three days from the start of January.

Now town councillors have added to the criticisms.

Meeting last week, town chairman Tim Petchey said closing two days a week would fly in the face of efforts to regenerate market towns and rural communities as supported in the recent Government Rural White Paper.

"This is nothing but a smack in the face," he said. "I'll happily write to the chairman of Lloyds and tell him what this council thinks."

Winchcombe Business Forum has launched a petition calling for the bank to rethink the scheme and demand an explanation for it.

Chairman Paul Mahoney said: "The Midland pulled out a few years ago and Lloyds is used by quite a lot of businesses, as well as personal customers.

"The more we think about it the more we realise how it will affect people."

One of the main worries for businesses is how they will be able to bank their day's takings when the bank is shut on Tuesdays and Thursdays and only open from 9am to 3.30pm, instead of the current 5pm.

Mr Mahoney has had a reply from Lloyds-TSB, but plans to write again to ask exactly what criteria were used in the decision to limit the hours. Businesses and residents are also being urged to sign up to petitions at various places in the town.

Some residents fear the new hours could be a prelude to a future closure altogether, but Lloyds-TSB spokeswoman Kirsty Clay denied this.

"We have been able to maintain a presence in Winchcombe by reducing the hours," she said.

She added: "The reason for the change is very much a decline in the usage of the branch."

Personal customers would be able to use Winchcombe Post Office on Tuesdays and Thursdays, she said, while talks were continuing to try to extend the same facility to business customers.

She added: "If any business has any particular issues they can speak to their business manager because there may be things we can do to alleviate those."