MP blasts plan to close bank branch

CHESHIRE MP Mike Amesbury has written to the chief executive of Barclays Bank and Business Secretary Greg Clark calling for an urgent rethink on plans to close the company’s branch in Frodsham.

The banking giant has announced plans to axe its Main Street branch on February 23 next year in a letter sent to customers on Friday, November 10.

The move comes after a spate of other bank closures in the town, notably HSBC last year, and Natwest last month.

In the letter, Barclays blamed ‘a low and falling level of transactions’ at the branch and said its Frodsham customers could use its Widnes Simms Cross and Stockton Heath branches instead – a choice which Mike branded ‘unacceptable’ due to the ‘special circumstances’ surrounding the Mersey Gateway bridge tolls.

He said: “Crossing the bridge to Widnes will incur Frodsham residents an extra £4 just to do their banking, not to mention the huge inconvenience it will cause.

“If they’re using public transport they will face journeys of up to an hour each way, with sizeable walks in-between bus and train changes.” He added: “Every community is different. “Frodsham is semi-rural with a large percentage of elderly residents and it’s now bordered by a toll bridge.

“Areas like Frodsham don’t have the transport links or even the broadband speeds for internet banking that you’d find in major urban areas.

“These are special circumstances, and I’m calling on Barclays to rethink this urgently and not abandon this community, rather than simply adopting a one size fits all approach to the way it does business.”

Lisa McCormick, Barclays area community banking director, said: “The way customers undertake their banking is changing as people increasingly use online, telephone and mobile devices.

“At Barclays Frodsham branch, customer usage has continued to decline, which is why we have taken the difficult decision to close it.

“We hope that the availability of our other Barclays branches at Widnes Simms Cross, Stockton Heath, Ellesmere Port or Warrington and access to services at the local Post Office currently located at 79 Main Street, Frodsham, along with our range of digital channels will help to ease the transition for our customers.” ●

Mike Amesbury, Labour MP for Weaver Vale, has complained to Barclays and the Business Secretary over the company’s plans to close its Frodsham branch. He said suggesting customers could travel to Widnes or Stockton Heath was ‘unacceptable’