Craven Arms to lose its last bank

Barclays Bank is to withdraw from Craven Arms on October 6, businesses and residents have been told, leaving the south Shropshire town without a single major high street bank chain.

David Evans, Shropshire councillor for Craven Arms and Church Stretton, and owner of business Cyril Bason Poultry, has called the move a "bombshell" that could turn Craven Arms into a "ghost town".

But Barclays say transactions at the branch continue to decline to the point it is unsustainable, even after trying reduced hours and days of the week to make it viable.

Councillor Evans said that was part of the problem, however, as it was only open from 10am to 3pm and closed on Wednesdays, which discouraged people from using it.

He said: "If it was open people would use it. I've been there when people are queuing before 10am. I've seen people on a Saturday queuing to use that cash point. I've seen people come in on Wednesday and try the door.

"But since they closed on a Wednesday town has been dead.

"It's going to have a devastating knock-on effect on the town Craven Arms is a market town and we're trying to encourage people and businesses to come here, not drive them out. Craven Arms is going to end up as a ghost town at this rate.

"A lot of businesses handle cash and if you need some change you go to the bank.

"It's not only the traders, it's the elderly people – many of them changed from HSBC when that closed in 2012 because they like to actually go into a bank.

"I feel like a bombshell has gone off, to close it altogether is ridiculous."

Craven Arms has lost branches of Lloyds and HSBC in recent years, and other small towns have also lost banks with Barclays withdrawing from Bishop's Castle in 2012, HSBC from Church Stretton in 2015, and from Ludlow and Knighton earlier this year.

Adrian Davies, Barclays community banking director for the area said: “The way customers undertake their banking is changing as people increasingly use online, telephone and mobile devices. At Barclays Craven Arms branch, customer usage has continued to decline and 57 per cent of our customers now regularly use alternative branches, which is why we have taken the difficult decision to close it.

"We hope that the availability of our other Barclays branch at Church Stretton and access to services at the local Post Office located at 1 Coverdale Road, Craven Arms along with our range of digital channels will help to ease the transition for our customers.”