'˜Bank's closure wont deter us'

These are the words of Coun John Lawson, as he spoke out following the recent decision by Lloyds to shut its Albion Street premises at the end of March.

While such moves are often seen as a nail in the coffin for town centres, Coun Lawson is confident this is clearly not the case for Cleckheaton.

He said: “We would have hoped that Lloyds could keep some kind of presence in Cleckheaton, we are disappointed in their decision.

“But we are well served by the remaining banks and Cleckheaton has quite a vibrant town centre - there’s a lot going on and a lot of work that bodes well for the town.

“I think it’s reflective of Lloyds’ business strategy rather than being indicative of what is happening in Cleckheaton.”

Lloyds said the difficult decision was taken because of the dwindling numbers of customers using the branch, with many now opting to bank online.

It said that only 61 customers used the Cleckheaton branch on a weekly basis with just 12 per cent of personal customers and 17 per cent of business customers only using the branch.

It said 68 per cent of personal customers were using branch, online or telephone banking.

Customers have been advised to use Lloyds branches at Brighouse, Batley or Dewsbury or carry out their day-to-day banking at Cleckheaton post office.

A spokesman said: “We must continually review our network to make sure we have branches in locations where customers want and use them the most.”