3,000 banks gone as 60 more close every month

FINISHED Bank shuts doors for final time BRITAIN’S love affair with plastic has seen almost 3,000 banks disappear from high streets since 2015, figures have revealed.

They are closing doors at the rate of 60 a month and a study by consumer watchdog Which? found 757 branches CALL FOR ACTION Labour MP Bill Esterson makes plea have shut this year. Banks say demand for face-to-face services has declined in favour of internet and telephone banking.

Which? said: “There are still people and small businesses relying on local banks, who don’t want to or can’t engage with the digital revolution. This is challenging in rural areas which suffer poor broadband and mobile coverage and there are higher populations of elderly customers.”

Meanwhile 250 hole-in-the-wall ATMs vanish each month, said the Link network.