Building society may shut

The Yorkshire Building Society has warned it could pull out of Paisley under a mooted branch shake-up

The firm wants to downsize its network and says four workers could lose their jobs in the High Street branch .

Almost 50 sites could close around the country over the next 18 months.

Paisley East and Ralston councillor Brian Lawson has called for urgent action to protect services and staff.

He told the Paisley Daily Express: “They are only the latest in a long line of banks and building societies deserting the town centre in recent years, hoping to force their customers to use internet banking.

“I don’t see how shutting up shop is in the best longterm interests of their membership.

“It is around three miles to the nearest branch in Cardonald and who knows how long that one will be open for?

“It seems that as soon as the council manages to fill a vacant shop in the High Street another commercial business decides to pack up and leave.”

The company insists it wants to “minimise proposed redundancies” by redeploying teams to other roles.

Mike Regnier, chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said: “We always act in the best interests of our membership and evolve the business in line with their changing needs. We believe these proposals give us greater focus on providing members with the things they want from us .”