West Worcestershire MP Dame Harriett Baldwin pledged to keep fighting for a permanent banking hub in Tenbury Wells as the final bank in town prepares for closure.

The TSB closes in May and the town’s MP has secured a commitment for a weekly-pop-up banking service but she is also calling for a full-time banking hub to allow local people to access financial services and deposit cash.

Last year, Dame Harriett carried out a survey of local businesses to find out their concerns about local banking and every respondent called for improved banking provision when the TSB closes.

The MP passed these concerns on to the Financial Conduct Authority and formally appealed the decision to not consider a banking hub.

In addition, Dame Harriett met with representatives of the Post Office and Blakemore Spar to understand the impact of the bank closure on its counter service and what steps it can take to help local people more.

Dame Harriett said:

“The closure of the last bank will cause major inconvenience to many local people and local businesses and put extra strain on the already busy post office.

“I’ve had some really constructive conversations with the Post Office and Spar staff about how they can help customers more and I am told that they have already seen an increase in counter service usage after the bank closure announcement.

“LINK which is the organisation rolling out banking hubs, has decided that the town has access to plenty of cash point machines but it has badly mis-underestimated the impact the closure will have on businesses wanting to dispose of cash.

“I have written to appeal the decision and called on the Financial Conduct Authority to scrutinise the review. So many people in Tenbury will be affected by this closure and I am greatly worried about the impact this will have on the town’s business confidence.”