A HELSBY councillor has staged a one-man protest outside the Frodsham branch of the NatWest bank, calling on bank chiefs to think again about a decision to close on Thursdays – the town’s market day.
Cllr Lance Yates carried a placard bearing the slogan “Keep this bank open on Thursdays” and asked customers leaving the bank to sign a petition.
He stood outside the bank from 9am to 11.45am on two Thursdays and collected 130 signatures.
Cllr Yates said: “I didn’t take signatures from people who were just passing. I just approached people leaving the bank.
“Everyone was utterly opposed to the closure proposals – some people were literally incandescent.”
NatWest have announced plans to close the branch on Thursdays from June 1 and also to reduce opening hours on other week days.
In future the bank will open at 10am instead of 9am, although it will stay open until 4pm instead of 3.30pm as at present.
Cllr Yates said: “I have contacted the bank and they say Thursday is a quiet business day. But it is market day and the town is packed with people. Many market traders use the branch to bank their takings. I don’t see how it can be a quiet day.
“In addition, most people who signed my petition didn’t even know about the proposed changes because the staff were not giving out leaflets. Originally the plan was to closed on May 16 but when I pointed out that leaflets were not being given out they postponed the changes. They have even had to have new leaflets printed.
“They told me people can use the hole-in-wall machine – but a lot don’t want to. They say people can do online banking – but many older people can’t. People are thinking it’s the thin end of the wedge and will lead to the branch eventually closing altogether.
A spokesman for NatWest said whenever they changed bank opening hours it was in response to demand. When Frodsham was looked at, Thursday was found to be the quietest day of the week.
He added: “Banking has changed significantly over the last few years and the way our customers want to interact with us is also changing. We have to continually adapt to meet our customers’ needs and to ensure we remain viable and relevant both now and in the future. We review our branch network regularly to make sure the services we provide are appropriate for each local community, based on our customers’ usage and other ways to bank in the local area.”
