The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
RBS confirms branch in Montrose will close
SNP politicians who held talks with bank officials vow to fight on
Campaigners fighting to save the Montrose RBS branch from closure were yesterday told it is a pointless exercise.
Mairi Gougeon, SNP MSP for Angus North and Mearns, Montrose SNP councillor Bill Duff and Mearns SNP councillor Leigh Wilson held crunch talks with senior RBS officials.
At the meeting RBS confirmed there will be no U-turn and the Montrose High Street bank will shut as planned on June 6 to be replaced by a mobile van scheduled to visit Montrose twice a week for two one-hour slots.
But, despite being told all hope is lost, Mrs Gougeon said the SNP politicians would not “simply give up and move on” and they will now launch a petition to save it outside the Montrose branch on Saturday.
Mr Duff said: “I’m hugely disappointed with the proposals from RBS.
“The offer of two one-hour slots from a mobile van to cover Montrose is not acceptable.”
RBS said many more customers in the Montrose area are now accessing services online.
SNP politicians have rounded on RBS after it said there will be no U-turn on its plan to close its Montrose branch.
Mairi Gougeon, SNP MSP for Angus North and Mearns, Montrose SNP councillor Bill Duff and Mearns SNP councillor Leigh Wilson held crunch talks with senior RBS officials in the town yesterday to state the case to save the branch.
RBS confirmed the Montrose High Street bank will shut as planned on June 6 to be replaced by a mobile van that will visit Montrose twice a week for two one-hour slots.
But Mrs Gougeon said the SNP politicians would not “simply give up and move on” and will launch a petition to save it on Saturday.
“This closure is going to hit our rural communities and the most vulnerable people within them the hardest – those who are unable to bank online or don’t have access to computers, people who are reliant on public transport as well as those with mobility issues,” she said.
“RBS see their mobile branch vans as a solution to rural bank closures but the vehicles can’t be accessed by wheelchair users or people with severe physical disabilities.”
She continued: “At our meeting it was also made clear the UK Government do have the power to intervene to save
“RBS see their mobile branch vans as a solution to rural bank closures but the vehicles can’t be accessed by wheelchair users or people with severe physical disabilities. MAIRI GOUGEON
Montrose branch, and the other under-threat branches, as the major shareholder.
“Will they choose to do so or will they, like RBS, abandon the customers who now need them most?”
Montrose will lose its branch following moves by RBS to close an initial total of 62 because more of its customers are choosing to do their banking online or on mobile.
“I’m hugely disappointed with the proposals from RBS,” Mr Duff said.
“The offer of two one-hour slots from a mobile van to cover Montrose is not acceptable.”
A spokesman for RBS said it was important to stress the decision was not taken lightly but transactions at the branch have dropped by 30% since 2012 and more than half of its Montrose customers are now doing their banking digitally.
He said they are engaging with customers in the run-up to the closure to help them make the transition when the branch is no longer there.
He also said RBS take the equality act seriously and will arrange alternatives for anyone who has difficulties accessing the mobile vans – which might include home visits.
John Glen, the economic secretary at the Treasury, said the UK Government “cannot reverse market movements or significant changes in customer behaviour”. He said it was right the Government does not intervene in commercial decisions which respond to these changes.
Meanwhile, RBS has given a cast-iron guarantee that the Arbroath branch is in its long-term plans following a meeting yesterday with Angus Conservative MP Kirstene Hair.
gstrachan@thecourier.co.uk