Machynlleth Town Council has snapped up furniture from the town’s now closed Barclays bank after it was claimed it would have been thrown in a skip otherwise.

Clerk Jim Griffiths said he had been alerted to the fact that the furniture would be available or would be smashed up and put into a skip so took up an offer to take the furniture.

The furniture, which is now been moved to Y Plas, will now be either used in the Plas or will be donated to community organisations, Mr Griffiths said.

He said: “It would have been a total waste of resources to allow that to be skipped.”

Barclays said the company makes efforts to ensure that any unwanted items are donated to local organisations or recycled.

A spokesperson said: “Barclays makes every effort to reallocate physical resources to alternative branches, or to charitable or non-profit making organisations such as in this instance."On occasions that the furniture is not fit for purpose or not required then we will transfer the equipment to the relevant recycling centre for appropriate disposal.”

The closure of the Machynlleth branch has been met with dismay in the town with criticism that the prime town centre building has now been boarded up.

Cllr Michael Williams has asked Barclays to carry out “sympathetic restoration” to the building and ensure that it is not boarded up long term.

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