Leintwardine to fight on over HSBC closure threat

Residents of a village on the Shropshire border have vowed to fight on against moves by banking giant HSBC to close their local branch and cash point.

At a meeting last night, about 20 residents from Leintwardine near Ludlow said they would continue to press the bank for answers and would look into asking other banks to take over the branch, which is the village's only bank.

Several people had contacted HSBC following a previous meeting two weeks ago and said they had received conflicting responses. Chris Edwards said she had been told the bank intended to keep the cash machine in the village.

Doug Griffiths said he had looked into the possibility of a community group leasing the bank building and running the cash machine and been told the machine could not continue on the site because once the bank closed in September, the security systems would be removed.

There were also complaints from residents that they had not been told officially the branch would be closing.

The meeting heard people had been offered training and advice in online and telephone banking from HSBC if the closure goes ahead in September. A further meeting will be on July 26 at St Mary's Church in Leintwardine.

Candice Durrett, spokeswoman for HSBC said: "HSBC does not make a decision to close a branch lightly. We appreciate the impact such a move can have on some customers and do what we can to minimise the effects."