Barclays becomes second bank to close in Beccles in six months

Barclays bank in Beccles is to shut its doors for the final time later, becoming the second bank to close in the town in the past six months.

Barclays says that the increase in remote banking has had an impact on the number of people using the branch, with only 19 people using it as their only form of banking.

Although the branch is closing, the bank will continue to have a presence in the local library.

HSBC closed its Beccles branch in June.

Christine Wheeler, the mayor of Beccles, said: "I walk past Barclays Bank every time I come into town and there's always a queue. So we really need Barclays.

"They're going to be able to help people do stuff online, but they're not going to be able to take money.

"So our market traders are going to have to think about where they're going to deposit their money and the town hall too.

"We were determined we wanted to do everything we could to keep Barclays in some respects in the town."

A town council meeting this month heard that Barclays had been in discussion with Beccles library about renting a room to operate from for 24 hours per week over four days.

Suffolk Libraries has confirmed this arrangement is due to start on 11 December.

A spokesperson said: "The library will be open on Monday 3 December in the HSBC building for the final time and will then close for three days to allow for staff to move back to the main building to then reopen on Friday 8 December."

Liz Elliot has recently opened a new business in the town called The Open Garden.

She said: "I think it's very important that they're kept open for the people. There's a large elderly population here, that can't do online banking.

"I have a 91-year-old mum who relies on going into the banks to move money and do her day-to-day banking and I think it's tragic that they're going.''

On the closure, Barclays said: "Back when we opened this branch, visiting us in person was one of the only ways to do your banking.

"We're seeing many customers choosing to bank using our app, and online or telephone banking.

"This has had a big impact on the number of customers coming in to see us."

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