AN OUTRAGED Liz Saville Roberts has suggested that HSBC’s behaviour following their departure from Blaenau Ffestiniog has been “nothing short of a scandal”,

For the second week in a row, residents and visitors in Blaenau Ffestiniog have not been able to access their own money from cashpoints in the town, as they have been either unavailable or inaccessible.

On Sunday evening, the town’s only 24-hour ATM was exhausted of money leaving people with no options for withdrawing money.

Dwyfor and Meirionnydd’s MP is enraged with banking giant HSBC’s behaviour, as the corporation closed down the town’s last bank branch in September after a hard-fought campaign to keep it open.

Liz Saville Roberts MP said: “I have now taken this issue up with HSBC’s chief executive Antonio Simoes.

"From their initial consultation on closing their branch in Blaenau to the current cash flow problem facing the town, HSBC’s transparency leaves much to be desired.

“Having promised to look in detail at providing an additional ATM in Blaenau Ffestiniog, HSBC’s efforts at positively engaging with the local community has been nothing short of a scandal."

HSBC said in a statement: “Following engagement with the community in Blaenau Ffestiniog we agreed that we would approach a third party ATM supplier to see if they would install a further machine in the town.

“It was agreed that as there are three ATMs in Blaenau Ffestiniog, one of which is 24 hours, it is not something they would go ahead with."

Read the full story in this Thursday’s Meirionnydd edition of the Cambrian News