Almost a thousand people have signed a petition against plans by Barclays to close their Carnforth branch later this year.
The bank on Market Street is set to close for the final time on October 13th, with bosses blaming a significant drop in footfall, and the vast majority of customers doing their banking online.
The closure would mean the nearest branch being in Lancaster.
A meeting has been arranged this week with Carnforth Town Council and Barclays Customer Care Director for Cumbria and Lancashire, to discuss the matter further.
A spokesperson for the Town Council, said: ‘’Carnforth, like many other towns of similar size, has been slowly recovering from the effects of the Covid pandemic. This news therefore comes as a body blow not only to local businesses but also to the many elderly and disadvantaged residents, from Carnforth and from surrounding villages, who do not have access to internet banking.
‘’While we welcome the news that Barclays will endeavour to maintain a presence in the community, this is surely just another example of managed decline.
‘’The relentless march of the corporate banking organisations towards online services at the expense of local branches should not be regarded as the inevitable advance of technology over out-dated forms of business practice.
‘’The ordinary person may prefer to do business with another human being rather than wait endlessly in a telephone queue or deal online with a faceless robot. Perhaps as corporate banking profits generally continue to increase year-on-year, their boards of directors may one day realise that however they dress up their products, there is no satisfactory replacement for a friendly professional presence on the street corner.’’
Barclays claim just 41 regular customers use the Carnforth branch exclusively for banking and do not interact with the bank in other ways.
There’s been a 34% reduction in counter transactions in the last two years, while 85% of customers also use bank via different methods.
Barclays say they will remain active in the community and are currently looking for a suitable location where staff can still support customers who still require a face-to-face service.
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