Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fight for Moray banks taken to Westminster

Bank of Scotland. Image: DC Thomson.
Bank of Scotland. Image: DC Thomson.

A campaign to save two key banks in Moray has been taken to Westminster as part of efforts to prevent a “huge blow for local businesses and vulnerable people”.

Bank of Scotland confirmed earlier this month that it will close its two branches in Lossiemouth and Keith later this year.

The proposed closure in Lossiemouth has been argued to be of significant impact to the local community, as it is the last bank in the town.

Lossiemouth has lost three brick and mortar banks in the past six years.

Richard Lochhead, SNP MSP for Moray, has now written to HM Treasury, asking the UK Government to intervene.

He said the impact in Lossiemouth will be particularly damaging, and cause severe problems for rural bank users.

In his letter, Mr Lochhead said: “The latest plans for branch closures by the Bank of Scotland in Moray will see the closure of the last remaining bank branch in Lossiemouth, at a time when the community is preparing for the expansion of RAF Lossiemouth and as a consequence a substantial increase in population.

“The loss of the last branch in Lossiemouth will be a huge blow for local businesses and vulnerable people in particular, who rely on face-to-face contact for their banking needs.

“Those who do not have access to transport will be worst affected, and I have no doubt there will be many who will struggle to pay the cost of public transport to travel elsewhere to do their banking.

“Closures on the scale that we’ve seen are simply unsustainable and there’s a real strength of feeling in communities across Moray – and indeed across rural Scotland – that enough is enough, and that it is now time for the UK Government to intervene in order to prevent more communities from being abandoned by the remaining banks.

“It is of course ironic that the UK Government chose to use public money to bail out these banks at their time of need, and we’re now seeing banks refuse to return that support to communities in Moray and across the country.”

He added: “It is incumbent on the UK Government to listen to the strong feeling of the public and to deliver a plan that will ensure the future of banking services in our rural communities.”

An HM Treasury spokesman said: “The decision to open and close branches is a commercial decision taken by the management team of each bank.

“The Government does not intervene in these decisions.

“But we understand the impact that closures can have on communities and people’s jobs.

“Banks must now give customers as much notice as possible when a branch is closing and ensure they are made aware of the options they have locally to continue to access banking services.”