WHEN residents received a letter in the post from Barclays Bank this week they were not prepared for the shock of what was inside.

News has broken that Launceston’s Barclays Bank, which has been serving the town since 1831, is to close its doors.

Barclays confirms there are various reasons for the decision and that they have taken into account the availability of nearby facilities.

They say: “Before we make the decision to close any branch, we think carefully about how it has been used so far. We consider how many customers have been visiting, what kind of transactions they’ve been making, and all the other ways they’ve been choosing to bank with us. We also take into consideration the availability of other branches in the wider community.”

Adding: “We’ve identified that only 89 customers use this branch exclusively for their banking.”

According to their statistics the number of counter transactions have gone down in the two years to March 2020. An additional 84% of branch customers now use alternative banking such as online and by telephone.

Customers using other ways to do their banking has increased by 12% since 2015 and in the past 12 months, 17% of the Launceston branch’s customers have been using ‘nearby branches’. The closest branches are now in Tavistock (12.5-miles away) and Liskeard (15 miles away).

However, many customers do not feel that is acceptable, with people struggling to travel to the branch in Launceston as it is. Many feel this closure will have a knock-on effect for those in surrounding towns who have already seen the closure of their local banks, with the proviso that ‘Launceston is nearby’.

One lady from Stratton wrote: “I received a letter from Barclays telling me the Launceston branch will close in January 2022. I live in Stratton but visit Launceston weekly and often use the bank there. Yet another difficulty for anyone not using internet banking.”

Share your thoughts about the closure and write a letter to the Post or send us an email.