ROYAL Bank of Scotland bosses want to close the Greenock town centre branch and relocate it - to the Mortgage Centre.

The company has applied for planning permission to shut the last-remaining Inverclyde RBS office in Cathcart Street and open a replacement at the Cartsburn site.

Officials say it would mean a new 'state-of-the-art' branch but some customers have reacted angrily to the proposals, saying it will be difficult for those without access to a car to get to the bank.

The proposals are now being considered by Inverclyde Council's planning department.

The current branch in Cathcart Street is the last one left in the district following the closure of the offices in West Blackhall Street, Port Glasgow, Gourock and Kilmacolm in recent years.

One RBS customer said: "This is a slap in the face for customers here.

"They're taking the branch away from the town centre and that will make the high street suffer.

"They are also relocating the replacement so out of the way that the only people who will be able to get to it easily are folk who have access to a car."

RBS says it wants to convert a ground floor section at the rear of the Cartsburn offices into a retail bank and use some adjacent grassland for customer parking.

A company spokesman said: "I can confirm that a planning application has been submitted to develop a state-of-the-art branch at the location of the RBS Greenock Mortgage Centre.

"If this is approved then the existing branch would close.

"The new branch will have customer parking."

In June, councillors upheld a decision by council planners to refuse permission for a £1 million Starbucks development on vacant former RBS-owned land next to the Mortgage Centre because the area is protected for use by business, financial services or green technologies sectors and not commercial purposes.