Pitlochry will be the first place to feel the pinch

The closure of four branches of the Royal Bank of Scotland in Perth and Kinross will start next week.

The sweep of bank closures in the region will begin on Thursday, May 31 when the Pitlochry branch will close its doors for the final time.

This comes despite a staged demonstration outside the Atholl Road bank at the beginning of April, where local residents took to the streets with protest banners in an attempt to stop the planned closure.

Residents who currently rely on the town’s branch will now have to travel over 20 miles to either Blairgowrie or the region’s main offices on Perth’s Dunkeld Road.

A spokesperson for RBS said:“We provide our customers with more ways to bank than ever before - customers can choose from a range of digital, face-to-face and local options.

“Since 2012 the number of customers using our branches in Scotland has fallen by 44 per cent.

“Only one per cent of customers in Scotland now use a branch regularly while the number of regular mobile users has increased by 39 per cent since 2015.”

After the Pitlochry branch closes next week, it will be swiftly followed by the closure of the nearby Aberfeldy branch in the town’s Square on Thursday, June 7.

And there will be two closures only within a matter of days when the Kinross RBS shuts on Monday, June 25 and the Perth South Street RBS closes on Wednesday, June 27.

The branch in Comrie’s Drummond Street has however been given a six month reprieve, and will therefore not close as planned within the next month.

Pick up a copy of Tuesday’s PA for more on the RBS closures.