February 2018
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11
News
Two more local bank branches to go by June
L
ocal residents wishing to make use of over-thecounter facilities at high street banks will find themselves with a further reduced choice later this year as another two branches close for good. The Barclays branch on the east side of Gloucester Road, Patchway has been temporarily closed since June 2017 when it suffered damage as a result of a fire in an adjoining takeaway. Uncertainty over its future was brought to an abrupt end in early January when the bank announced in a letter to customers that the branch “will not be reopening”. The letter added: “The decision to close a branch is never an easy one; however, we were finding that prior to the fire, fewer customers had been using the branch to do their everyday banking. Taking into consideration the alternative ways to bank that are available in the
L-r: The NatWest branch in Winterbourne (closes 6th June); The Barclays branch on Gloucester Road, Patchway
area, we have made the decision not to reopen the branch.” The news comes just a month after NatWest announced that its branch on Winterbourne High Street was one of 197 selected for closure around the country. A spokesman for RBS group (of which NatWest is part) said that the move was in response to more of its customers using online services.
“More and more of our customers are choosing to do their everyday banking online or on mobile.” “Since 2014, the number of customers using our branches across the UK has fallen by 40 percent and mobile transactions have increased by 73 percent over the same period.” Both banks point out that their customers may access everyday
banking services through local post offices. The two closures, which follow that of the HSBC branch at Aztec West in August 2014, will leave the Patchway branch of Lloyds, on the west side of the A38, as the nearest to Bradley Stoke. ● Cllr Tom Aditya has asked the town council to write to Barclays asking them to consider opening a branch in Bradley Stoke.
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