RESIDENTS in a County Durham town have branded the recent announcement that one of their banks is to close later this year as “more nails in the coffin."

Barclays revealed that it would be withdrawing from Front Street in Chester-le-Street on August 12 this year – after seeing a “worrying” decline in the number of people that were using its services.

Within its ‘reasons to close’, the banking group, which has also shut numerous other branches in the UK in favour of an online approach, cite that counter transactions have gone down in the two years to March 2020.  

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In a document released online, Barclays said: “The number of counter transactions has gone down in the two years to March 2020, and additionally 83 per cent of our branch customers also use other ways to do their banking such as online and by telephone.

“Customers using other ways to do their banking has increased by 14 per cent since 2015.

“In the past 12 months, 23 per cent of this branch's customers have been using nearby branches.

“We’ve identified that only 76 customers use this branch exclusively for their banking.”

The Northern Echo: The statistics that Barclays have published to back up their closure announcement. Picture: BARCLAYS.The statistics that Barclays have published to back up their closure announcement. Picture: BARCLAYS.

Alongside the reasons for the closure of Barclays in Chester-le-Street, the bank said counter transactions had fallen by 58 per cent in the last two years, while cash deposits dropped by 72 per cent.

It means that banking customers will now lose counter services, cash machines and self-service machines in the August closure.

As an alternative, residents in Chester-le-Street will now be forced to make the four-mile trip to Washington or six-mile trip to Team Valley to access a Barclays branch or use cash machines at nearby Heron Foods and Lloyds bank.

The Northern Echo: Barclays cited online and telephone transactions as the reason for the closure. Picture: PA MEDIA.Barclays cited online and telephone transactions as the reason for the closure. Picture: PA MEDIA.

There is also a Post Office on Front Street.

Despite Barclays' reasoning for the closure, the announcement has not gone down well with people of the town, with one branding the move “more nails in the Chester-le-Street coffin.”

Taking to social media, one user said: “Unfortunately, it's because everyone does online banking,” while another added: “Ridiculous rents by this council as well as all the red tape in running a branch. Another step towards a cashless society.”

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