A CONCERNED councillor is worried that a Meirionnydd town has only been left with one bank in town.

Following Barclays’ recent announcement that they will be closing their Bala branch in March 2018, Cllr Eluned Jones has voiced her fears over the future of the local residents banking needs.

“Closing another bank in this busy town seems such a terrible disappointment and a huge loss to the town,” she said.

“We have already lost NatWest Bank some years ago so this decision would leave us with just the HSBC bank.”

“Many residents of the town feel that the face to face service that the Bala Barclays Bank branch staff provide to all their customers is invaluable.

“ Not only that, there is a large proportion of elderly people living in the town, and many of these elderly people have spoken of their concern of the loss of the current service.

“They are very worried about using the internet to carry out their banking needs, in fact many elderly or disabled Barclays customers cannot use the internet and travelling around twenty or thirty miles to the nearest branch is difficult to say the least.”

Barclays have justified the “difficult decision” saying there is a reduced demand for the bank’s services as customer usage has continued to decline (14 per cent in the last 24 months).

Cllr Jones suggests that there is a pressing need for banking services in the town, however.

“As well as having a strong agricultural industry, Bala and its surrounding picturesque beauty is a busy tourist destination and as a result the population increases tremendously each year, especially during the summer months, and naturally much use is made of the banks and ATM cash machines,” she said.

“A large proportion of tourists and locals use the ATMs during the day and in the evenings and long queues are often formed outside the bank.

“This means that It will be hugely inconvenient without the Barclays ATM service.

“Bala is a busy, thriving town with many small businesses and closing down the bank in the heart of the town and leaving another empty building on the main street is very unsatisfactory and so disappointing.”