Barclays will pull down the shutters on another four more branches in our region next year.

The banking giant has announced the closures of 18 more branches in 2024, including four in the North East and North Yorkshire.

Locations in Gateshead’s Team Valley, Hexham, Richmond and Northallerton will all close next year - on March 15, March 1, December 4, and March 14 respectively.

The closures come as banks continue to push forward with the move to online banking. The number of people using in-person services has been falling for years as people switch to digital.

Lloyds announced the closures of 18 branches including one in our region on Thursday.

Barclays has already closed 14 sites in our region this year, with two more to close before the new year.

A Barclays spokesperson told the Mirror: “As visits to branches continue to fall, we need to adapt to provide the best service for all our customers. Where there is no longer enough demand to support a branch, we maintain an in-person presence through our Barclays Local network, live in over 300 locations, based in libraries, town halls, mobile vans and our banking pods.

“We also support access to cash with our cashback without purchase service, 24-hour deposit-taking ATMs and by working alongside the Post Office and Cash Access UK.”

Explaining the reasons for closing each branch Barclays said 90% of customers at its Richmond branch also use online, app or telephone banking and that only 25 customers use the branch exclusively.

91% of customers who use the Team Valley branch use digital banking while that figure stands at 90% in Hexham where fewer than 10 customers use the branch exclusively.

But in Northallerton Barclays is pressing ahead with the closure despite 170 people still using the branch there as their only way to bank.

The move means Richmond will be left without any branches with a ‘banking hub’ recommended to open there by ATM network Link.

Banking Hubs, operated by the Post Office, allow customers of all major banks to carry out their normal banking and transactions in one location.

It is the 100th hub to be recommended across the UK.

John Howells, CEO, LINK: “We’re pleased that today we can confirm Richmond will be receiving a new Banking Hub and Cash Access UK is already working on plans to get it up and running.

“High streets are at the heart of our communities and Banking Hubs are helping to bring life back to them.

“More people are banking and shopping online meaning they’re not visiting ATMs or bank branches as often as they used to. It’s still critical that we’re able to provide free access to cash and face-to-face banking services.”

A banking hub opened in Newton Aycliffe on Friday (December 1).

Twenty-seven branches across the North East and North Yorkshire have shut down so far this year leaving many customers without a local store.

Another twelve have been earmarked for closure by various bank brands with the final withdrawals to be made in the coming months.

Here are all of the North East banks which have closed so far this year, and those set to close in the coming months (as of December 1, 2023):

Barclays

The Northern Echo: Barclays financials

  • Stanhope, County Durham – DL13 2TU – CLOSED April 21
  • Bedale, North Yorkshire – DL8 1AD – CLOSED April 26
  • Leyburn, North Yorkshire – DL8 5BQ – CLOSED May 5
  • Saltburn, Teesside - TS12 1AB - CLOSED June 30
  • Alnwick, Northumberland – NE66 1TF – CLOSED July 7
  • Yarm, Teesside – TS15 9AH – CLOSED July 14
  • Seahouses, Northumberland – NE68 7SJ – CLOSED July 14
  • The Galleries, Washington, Sunderland - NE38 7SH - CLOSED July 21
  • Prudhoe, Northumberland – NE42 5PU – CLOSED August 11
  • Haltwhistle, Northumberland – NE49 9AG – CLOSED August 18
  • Thirsk, North Yorkshire – YO7 1LF – CLOSED October 25
  • Redcar, Teesside – TS10 1DX – CLOSED November 15
  • Middleton in Teesdale, County Durham – DL12 0QF – CLOSED November 17
  • Whitley Bay, North Tyneside – NE26 3RA 0- closing December 1
  • Durham – DH1 3NB – closing December 8
  • Whitby, North Yorkshire – YO21 1BW – closing December 8
  • Hexham, Northumberland - NE46 1PE - closing March 1, 2024
  • Northallerton, North Yorkshire - DL7 8LJ - closing March 14, 2024
  • Team Valley, Gateshead - NE11 0JW - closing March 15, 2024
  • Richmond, North Yorkshire - DL10 4JH - closing on or before December 4, 2024

HSBC

The Northern Echo:

  • Whitley Bay, North Tyneside – NE26 2SW – CLOSED May 2
  • Whitby, North Yorkshire – YO21 1BD – CLOSED May 16
  • South Shields, South Tyneside – NE33 1NW – CLOSED June 14
  • Gosforth, Newcastle – NE3 1HE – CLOSED July 18

Halifax

The Northern Echo: A shop sign for the Halifax in central London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday January 6, 2016. Photo credit should read: Nick Ansell/PA Wire

  • Chester-le-Street, County Durham – DH3 3BD – CLOSED April 19
  • Whitley Bay, North Tyneside – NE26 2TH – CLOSED June 21
  • Gosforth, Newcastle – NE3 1HX – closing January 8, 2024
  • Newton Aycliffe, County Durham - DL14 7EQ – closure delayed to March 27, 2024

Lloyds

The Northern Echo:

  • Benton, North Tyneside – NE7 7EE – CLOSED July 17
  • Newburn, Newcastle – NE15 8LS – CLOSED September 14
  • Thirsk, North Yorkshire – YO7 1HB – CLOSED October 31
  • Gateshead, Tyne and Wear – NE11 0EN – closing January 9, 2024
  • Seaham, County Durham – SR7 7SD – closing June 19, 2024
  • Whitley Bay, North Tyneside - NE26 2SY - closing November 12, 2024

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NatWest

The Northern Echo:

  • Whitley Bay, North Tyneside – NE26 2TQ – CLOSED July 20

Virgin Money

The Northern Echo:

  • Durham – DH1 3NP – CLOSED November 6
  • Hexham, Northumberland – NE46 1NJ – CLOSED November 7
  • Gosforth, Newcastle – NE3 1JZ – CLOSED November 8