Anger as town’s last bank closes

A COUNCILLOR has questioned the commercial sense of closing a town’s last high street bank.

TSB says its Haslingden branch on Deardengate will officially close in January 2021, however ‘due to coronavirus’ it effectively will not reopen.

The nearest branch is in Rawtenstall, and the town is now left without a bank on its high street. TSB said the way customers access their services is “rapidly evolving”, with the vast majority of everyday transactions now being done digitally.

However, Haslingden Coun Granville Morris says the closure would hurt Rossendale’s council’s 2040 vision to regenerate the town.

“The TSB was the last of the banks to close in Haslingden,” he said. “My concern is for the remaining businesses that are trying to do their bit in the town.

“The 2040 vision that they have launched is trying to look to the future. But it must encompass commerce. If you are going to regenerate a town how are you going to expect those businesses that are there currently to cash and bank their monies?”

Coun Morris added that there was sizeable minority of people who were not online.

He added: “We have got this ageism in this society that we’re thinking of the younger people more than the older people. Certain ages of people are going to be seriously inconvenienced by not being able to get to a convenient bank.

“They used to have a bank with a personal touch. You ring a bank up to complain about something and you might be ringing India. It’s the way of this world. We are all being told the way we are being expected to live.”

Rossendale council deputy leader Coun Jackie Oakes said most banking contacts can be done through the post office.

However, she added: “It’s very disappointing that banks have no commitment to local neighbourhood shopping areas.

“They haven’t had that in Bacup for quite some time. People shouldn’t be so inconvenienced.”

In a statement, TSB said: “Even prior to COVID-19 customers were choosing other ways to bank with us. We need to make sure our branches meet the current and future needs of our customers, and TSB remains committed to face to face services in branch through a network that covers the whole country.”