Bank closure is body blow to Alcester residents

BARCLAYS customers in Alcester have been dealt a body blow this week with news the bank giant will close its Alcester High Street branch on Friday 24th May.

In a letter sent to customers, Barclays said people are changing the way they bank using online and telephone services and that customer usage continued to fall.

The reasoning doesn’t appear to hold weight with some Barclays’ customers in Alcester who this week wrote to the Herald voicing their concern and frustration about the closure which means anyone wanting to do their banking business in the town will either have to go to The Post Office or Lloyds Bank – the only bank left in Alcester.

One such letter writer is Patricia Layton who said: “They say the Alcester branch is not viable yet every time I go in there is a queue.”

While Barclays reminds customers its business as usual at branches in Stratford, Redditch and Evesham and at the same time promotes its online options in the letter, this week’s news about Alcester follows a worrying trend of Barclays Bank closures in the district over the last 15 months; Henley, November 2017, Wellesbourne, August 2018 and Warwick, December 2018.

Full story with photo in this week's Herald.