Town where nearest branch of Barclays is 24 MILES away
THE retreat of banks from the high street has been laid bare by plans for a town to be left without a single branch.
Barclays is currently the only bank in Leiston, Suffolk, but its customers will soon have a near 50-mile round trip to their nearest branch after it revealed the outlet will close in May.
The return journey to Lowestoft, 24 miles away – will take at least 90 minutes by car, while accessing services in Ipswich, 26 miles away, will swallow up nearly two hours.
The Mail has repeatedly highlighted bank closures, while sister paper The Mail on Sunday has campaigned for communities to keep at least one bank in its Keep our Cash Manifesto. Hundreds of
‘Shameful and shameless’
branches are being closed every year as banks cut costs, saying most people prefer to go online.
Critics say businesses and charities that rely on cash then suffer, while people unable to go online are penalised.
Dozens of protesters demonstrated in Leiston on Saturday over the closure decision. The bank has shut premises in neighbouring Woodbridge, Framlingham, Halesworth and Felixstowe in the past two years.
Tim Baskett, who has cerebral palsy, said it was a trek to the Ipswich branch from its nearest car park. He added: ‘And, to be honest, I wouldn’t want to go across Ipswich with a lot of cash.’
David Silver, who runs a motorbike spares company, said: ‘I need access to large amounts of cash very quickly because if I want to go and buy a motorcycle, some people will only accept cash.
‘I don’t think banks should just be allowed to close. It’s like gas or water companies – they can’t just turn off an area because it doesn’t suit them.’
Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey, who set up a petition which has been signed by 700 people, branded Barclays ‘shameless’.
‘My past experience is that Barclays is pretty shameful and shameless and will continue to try to close the branch but, thanks to the number of petition signatories, I was able to demonstrate the strength of local feeling.’
Customers who move to another bank will still have to travel seven miles to and from Saxmundham, which has a HSBC.
A Barclays spokesman said: ‘In Leiston, we are planning to open a Barclays Local – a cashless banking site where customers can meet a colleague face-to-face for banking support.’
OUR banks (apart from a couple) are intentionally giving us poor customer service by shutting all their branches because it will save them a lot of money on premises and employees. it also means they don’t have to waste time talking to pesky, annoying customers.
They are also deliberately campaigning to abolish cash from our lives, the reason being that they make commission on every debit or credit card transaction.
Think about how often you make card payments for even the smallest item, then multiply that by the whole country doing the same. That is a lot of money for the banks every day. Cash doesn’t make them anything. in fact, it costs them money to handle, so they have every incentive to get rid of it as quickly as possible.
As a small business owner, i see that only those aged over 40 use cash at all, so youngsters seem to accept the situation, which means cash will disappear from all our lives in a couple of generations if we don’t do something about it.
one consequence of this change is that everyone must have a bank account, which increases the banks’ power over every individual. if you complain, you can be cancelled. Without a bank account, you cannot exist in this country.
i don’t know why customers willingly hand so much power to banks. Please, people, let’s fight hard to keep cash in our lives.
Name and address supplied. i WAs sadly not surprised to read (Good health) that online chemists, backed by the Nhs, could put local pharmacies out of business. i’m afraid this is what’s happening in all areas of life today, including shopping and banking.
Pharmacies will be found only in large towns and cities soon. God help the infirm and those who don’t use computers.
PETER HASSALL, Shifnal, Salop.
Time for a change
IF IT made sense to end British summer Time on october 29,
surely it would make sense to restore it by next weekend, not wait until easter sunday.
J. H. PEARCE, Lighthorne, Warks.
Pensions winner
IT IS time for Jeremy hunt to reverse the tax raid on pension fund dividends that was instigated by Gordon Brown, now it has been shown conclusively what a bad move that was. i’d call it killing several birds with one stone.
A. JARVIS, Stockport, Cheshire.
Student racket
WHY is a supposedly Tory Government allowing our ultra-left universities effectively to sell UK citizenship to foreign students and their extended families, as an
enticement to study for oftenworthless degrees and earn the universities more money? surely this is just people trafficking, but with mortar boards instead of outboard motors. BRUCE MEECHAN, Bovey Tracey, Devon.
Parents not to blame
THE article by a resident of Culcheth (Mail) about the parents of scarlett Jenkinson, one of the two people imprisoned for murdering Brianna Ghey, was really uplifting to read.
There are examples of bad parenting leading to bad children but this doesn’t seem the case with the Jenkinson family. i hope scarlett’s mum and Brianna’s mum can provide mutual support.
They have both lost their daughters. My heart goes out to them.
M. SIMS, Warrington, Cheshire.
Sicknote Britain
IF WE have 2.8 million people signed off on long-term sickness (Mail), could they please inform the rest of us how they managed to get a GP appointment.
BRIAN JOHNSON, Middlesbrough, N. Yorks.
Irritating adverts
THOSE who think the BBC should be financed by advertising (letters) should be careful what they wish for.
The Blaze channel on Freeview is a salutary example of what happens, with five minutes of adverts and trailers every ten minutes. The constant breaks make it difficult to follow the programmes.
it is also suggested that BBC3 and BBC4 should be scrapped. BBC3 is essentially the RuPaul show but BBC4 has some good offerings, when it’s not showing 30-year-old sitcoms and TOTP.
And what about ‘ big- ticket’ events such as Wimbledon? Do we want adverts between sets?
T. PHILLIPS, London E10.
Victim Linzi
liNZi sMiTh’s treatment by Newcastle United and the Premier league for tweeting her views on trans issues is appalling.
No organisation should respond to an anonymous complaint. if complainants are not prepared to identify themselves, they should be ignored. What if they have a grudge against lesbians in general or Ms smith in particular?
NUFC fans should be out in force, supporting Ms smith. she deserves a full public apology.
GERRY LESTER, Stone, Staffs. liNZi sMiTh should sue both Newcastle FC and the Premier league ‘intelligence unit’.
DAVID BRETHERTON, Liverpool.
Real deal
WhY do we need a drama recreation of the Duke of York’s interview by emily Maitlis, when we have the real interview available? SuE MILLWARD, Croydon, Surrey.