Residents opposed to RBSI’s planned closure of two branches of the Isle of Man Bank will protest outside them this week.

The brand is registered in Jersey after Isle of Man Bank Ltd ceased to exist last year as part of a reorganisation in the company.

Having closed five other branches in the last decade, the bank announced on Thursday it plans to close its Castletown and Peel operations on January 7.

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The decision has been met with anger from residents, business owners and politicians.

Alwyn Collister, a former Castletown commissioner, has said he would be holding a protest outside the bank, in Marker Square, on Friday at 1pm and is inviting people to attend.

If the branch does close, it will leave Barclays as the last bank in town and that only opens two-and-a-half days a week. The only other bank in the south of the island is the Isle of Man Bank’s branch on Station Street, Port Erin but that opens only on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Meanwhile Minister for Policy and Reform Ray Harmer has said a protest is also being planned for outside the bank’s Atholl Street branch in Peel at 10.30am on Saturday, September 19.

Andrew McLaughlin, chief executive of RBS International said of the decision: ’In recent years we’ve seen significant changes in customer behaviour with more customers choosing digital for their everyday banking needs.’