A FORMER bank which shut up shop after trading for 150 years in a Forest town is set to be turned into flats after planners approved the change of use.

Lloyds Bank closed its Broad Street branch in Newent three years ago, vacating a building that dates back to the 18th century when it was a Georgian “country gentleman’s residence”.

Since November 2017, when Barclays also quit the town, Newent no longer has a bank branch.

Property developers Crawford and Daughters applied to convert the Grade II listed four-storey building from business use back into accommodation, claiming that it didn’t have a viable commercial future.

Estate agent Steve Gooch backed the scheme for five self-contained flats, telling Forest planners it would be “almost impossible” to sell the property for similar commercial use because it lacked a traditional shop frontage, and businesses that might once have used it were moving away from the high street.

Complete with Flemish bond brickwork, rusticated stone quoins and a tiled roof, the historic building first became a bank in 1866, when the Gloucestershire Banking Company moved in.

It was in turn taken over by Capital and Counties Bank, with Lloyds taking up ownership in 1918.

Mr Gooch, who marketed the property for Lloyds and believes his great-grandfather was a bank customer there, said they were asked to sell it for “a reasonable asking price of £295,000”, but only two parties viewed the former bank and it sold for “considerably less”.