Clerk’s shock as her branch shuts after 45 years...leaving town without a bank
A BANK clerk who worked at the same high street branch for 45 years told of her shock yesterday as it closed, leaving her town with no banks.
Marian Manning, 61, joined Lloyds in Budleigh Salterton, Devon, as a trainee aged 16.
But the bank closed its doors for the final time on Tuesday afternoon, leaving its two employees to clear out the branch yesterday.
Consumer group Which? recently highlighted how two-thirds of bank branches have shut in the past 30 years.
Mrs Manning told the Daily Express she has decided to retire and now intends to travel the world with her husband Chris.
She said: “I did think at some stage it would happen and I suppose the bank is not as busy as it was.
“But I can’t believe it has been so long and it has come to an end.” The Lloyds branch had been the only bank in the town for the past three years.
The town of around 6,500 people will now have a mobile bank from Lloyds visiting three days a week.
But residents will still be able to bank at the nearby Post Office.
The next nearest banks are in Exmouth – more than five miles away.
Which? highlighted how a fifth of householders are two miles from their nearest bank.
One in 10 had to travel more than three miles.
Mrs Manning added: “The bank is providing a mobile bank to Budleigh, which is really good news.
“The customers have been really supportive of us during the closure. They have been more concerned about us.
“It is a very sweet reaction. But obviously things change and people move on. Budleigh is a very elderly town. Over the years you do see the same people, with a few new ones.
“But generally it’s been a fairly stable customer base.”
She added: “Shops come and go. There’s quite a lot of charity shops now.
“The town is mostly full, which is good, but probably not as busy as it used to be.”
The mother-of-two is travelling to Boston, USA, with Chris as a retirement present later this month.