Concern as last banks withdraw from town
I really don’t know what I am going to do Debbie O’Brien
RESIDENTS of Alnwick and its surrounding communities have slammed the closures of the town’s last two bank branches.
Lloyds and Halifax, which stand side by side on Bondgate Within, are set to shut their doors in January 2025. That will leave the Post Office as the only outlet to handle cash, though Newcastle Building Society will continue to maintain a branch in the town centre.
The two banks, which are both part of the Lloyds Banking Group, have said that the closures are down to most customers using mobile, online, or telephone banking. However, on Monday morning, there were queues outside of both banks and a steady stream of customers coming in and out.
Alnwick’s councillors have already told The Journal of their frustration at the closures. Now, residents have had their say too.
Debbie O’Brien, 64, owns Lilburn’s Bar and Restaurant in the town centre. She has used Lloyds for both personal and business banking for decades.
She said: “I think it’s horrendous because I’m old fashioned, so I’m not doing online banking or anything. Now it’s going to be a nightmare taking money out.
“There’s a limit on how much I can take out and I pay my staff weekly. So I either need to go to the nearest branch or start online banking - I really don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Now, the nearest Lloyds and Halifax banks are on Station Road in Ashington, a 46-mile round trip of over half-an-hour in the car or over an hour public transport. Alnwick’s banks are not only used by its townspeople though, they also serve many who live in the rural communities surrounding it.
Norman Davison, 57, and Lucia Karina, 64, live in Longhorsley and have already seen their closest bank in Rothbury close down. They will now have to travel to Ashington, a similarly near 25-mile round trip, for their closest bank.
Lucia said: “Why are they doing that? Petrol costs are so high. We don’t come here often but it’s still important to have a bank. You can’t pay in a cheque online!”
Norman added: “Morpeth is actually our closest town. But Lloyds changed to TSB so we’ve had to come here, and now we’re losing another bank.”
Gordon Roper, who works at the nearby Alnwick Garden, is also against the closures. He said: ““Unfortunately, I only use it about twice a year to deposit cheques, but I generally do have a review every year for savings accounts and the like and I don’t know how I’m going to do that.
“I can do it online but I don’t like it, it’s impersonal.”
He also shared his concerns that Alnwick could lose the free cash machines at Lloyds and Halifax, saying: “My mother’s pension is paid into my account so I need a cash machine. That leaves Nisa and Sainsbury’s. All the others charge.”
Another resident, Michael, has accounts and both Sainsbury’s and Halifax. He said that he felt Alnwick had been “abandoned” by the banks. He said: “I think it’s terrible for the town. It take away a vital service if you want cash. If you have got a query about anything you can go in and ask, the staff are very helpful.
“I think it’s just another way of making people do away with cash, we’re being abandoned.”
A Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson said: “As many customers now choose to bank through their mobile app or online, visits to our Lloyds Bank and Halifax branches in Alnwick have fallen over recent years. Customers can use the local post office for everyday banking which is a short walk away from both branches, and access cash at the nearby free-to-use ATMs.
“Customers can also manage their money online, by calling us, or at the new Banking Hub once it is up and running.”