Newcastle is going to town

A BUILDING society is stepping in to help customers deserted by the major banks.

Newcastle Building Society is to open community branches in two towns to give locals access to essential banking services.

This week, it offered a lifeline to bank customers in Hawes, North Yorkshire, who are facing the withdrawal of the town’s last bank, with the mutual planning to open a community branch there.

And yesterday it said it will open a branch in Wooler, Northumberland, which has been without banking services since 2018.

The building society’s chief executive Andrew Haigh said: “We are convinced the high street has an important role to play at the heart of our communities. We have been thinking around how we can be present in communities struggling to access financial services.”

According to Which?, 3318 bank and building society branches have closed since 2015 or are due to close.