CUSTOMERS have hit out after bosses decided to close the last bank in a town leaving locals with a 50-mile trek to their nearest Barclays branch.
Locals in Leiston, Suffolk now face a 24 mile trip to visit their nearest Barclays in Lowestoft after the branch closes.
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On Saturday locals held a protest outside the Barclays branch in Leiston, which is set to close on May 17.
A local business owner told the Sun that the move to shut the branch was “daft.” The man, who ran a shop for 30 years, said: “The nearest Barclays is miles away so I don’t know what they are thinking.
“They are just daft. Sometimes you need to be able to pop into the bank for a little chat with someone on your lunch break. But that is all going out the window.
“This is a very busy town in the summer months with a lot of holidays homes in the area. It needs a bank.”
A manager in a local coffee shop said: “Yes I think its daft too. Local businesses need a bank on the doorstep. It will be very difficult when the move out.”
Barclays have said they intend to replace the branch with a cashless Barclays Locals, where customers can speak to staff.
The campaign to save the branch has been led by Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey.
She said: “My past experience is that Barclays is pretty shameful and shameless and will continue to try to close the branch but, thanks to the number of petition signatories, I was able to demonstrate the strength of local feeling.”
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Julia Ewart, Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate, led a recent protest in the village.
In a post on social media Ms Ewart said: “The announcement of the Barclays branch in Leiston closing has been considered as “disappointing”!
“You’ve told me it’s infinitely more than that! You want the branch to remain open.
“As a customer it’s not acceptable to close as there’s not one other branch in the Suffolk Coastal constituency.
“It’s three hours round trip to go to an active counter – in Lowestoft or Ipswich once you’ve parked.
We’re looking at the legislative and policy matters as to why it should stay open.”
Customers who move to another bank will still have to travel seven miles to and from Saxmundham, which has a HSBC.
A Barclays spokesman said: ‘In Leiston, we are planning to open a Barclays Local – a cashless banking site where customers can meet a colleague face-to-face for banking support.”
