Last banks in Bodmin to close in 2024

Bodmin's last banks are set to close on the same date next year.

On 20 June 2024, the Lloyds and Halifax banking branches will also close their ATM facilities.

Bodmin Banking Hub is scheduled to be operational by then, but Lloyds Banking Group, which operates both, said it would keep the branches open for 12 months if the hub was still unopened.

The group said the Post Office would be available for everyday banking, and so would nearby free-to-use ATMs.

Sako Ali, from a barbershop on Fore Street, said they only took cash payments from clients, so he was concerned about how he was going to deposit cash.

"That's bad news for Bodmin," he said.

"A lot of people are living here who need the banks, and need to take cash out.

"How will we get cash out? Will we need to go somewhere like Newquay? That would be hard for people."

Dennis Hawker and his daughter Sahara run their business, also on Fore Street.

Their bank in Bodmin has already closed, so Sahara collects money for the tills from a branch in Newquay where she lives.

"I wouldn't be surprised if, eventually, when the banks closed, everybody will be queuing at the Post Office," he said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the Post Office eventually say they're not doing cash anymore."

In a statement, a Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson told the BBC: "As many customers now choose to bank online or through their mobile app, visits to our Bodmin Lloyds Bank and Halifax branches have fallen over recent years.

"Customers can use the local Post Office for everyday banking, which is a short walk away; access cash at the nearby free-to-use ATMs, alongside other ways to bank such as over the phone and online, or the new Banking Hub once it is up and running."

The group also said that, in Bodmin, 77% of its personal Halifax customers and 76% of Lloyds Bank customers already used other ways of banking, such as mobile, internet or phone banking, as well as other branches.

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