Appeal for bank facilities amid last branch closure
Jadzia Samuel/BBCAlternative banking facilities are needed in an East Sussex town where the last bank branch is due to close, according to its MP and mayor.
Lloyds Bank is due to follow Barclays and Santander by closing its branch in Crowborough in June, leaving the closest bank about eight miles away in Tunbridge Wells.
Sussex Weald MP Nusrat Ghani has promised to work with Crowborough mayor Natalie Whittle to "secure an alternative, walk-in facility".
Confirming the closure, a spokesperson for Lloyds said the bank offered "more choice and ways to manage money than ever before".
Whittle said: "We have to be very aware of organisations that still handle cash like charities, and clubs and societies, [and] people that still accept cheques for their business as well."
The mayor emphasised the need to be "supportive" of those groups, as well as "people that like to do face-to-face banking, which is a certain demographic".
According to data produced by Lloyds, just under 700 people regularly use the Crowborough branch of the bank.
More than half of those users are over the age of 55, while over 90% of the accounts accessed are personal, rather than business, accounts.
Ghani has pledged to make representations to organisations such as Cash Access UK which aims to provide essential banking services to communities across the UK.
"There is a precedent for a well-functioning facility in Hailsham and I will be stressing to them that we desperately need one in Crowborough," she said.
Alex Conaway, chief marketing officer at Cash Access UK, said: "New shared services including banking hubs are opening across the country, including the South East to ensure people and businesses readily have access to cash.
"The hubs are really popular where they're opening, with more than 150 transactions taking place on average a day."
Cash Access UK has opened 213 hubs to date, Conaway added.
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