SNP anger over RBS branch closures

Four SNP politicians including Michael Russell have written to RBS chief executive Ross Mcewan demanding a meeting over rural bank closures.

Mr Russell, Stuart Mcmillan MSP, Ronnie Cowan MP and Brendan O’hara MP are angered over plans to close the Greenock branch and move it to a RBS call centre on the outskirts of town.

They say the bank has already closed branches in Greenock and Gourock. They also pointed out that islanders on Bute would be able to use the Greenock branch, a trip that would involve a two-hour car and ferry journey. They say the new site is more inconvenient for public transport.

The politicians accused RBS of reneging on the promise made to the islanders of Bute.

A RBS spokesman said: “I can confirm that a planning application has been submitted to develop a stateoftheartbranchatthe location of the RBS Greenock Mortgage centre, however at this point no decision has been taken to close the existing Greenock branch.

“If the planning application is approved then the existing branch would be relocated. The new branch would be a state of the art facility with free parking and will be well served by public transport.”