VILLAGE residents are furious after learning that their only bank is to close for two days a week.
The Middleton-in-Teesdale branch of Barclays Bank is to close on Wednesdays and Thursdays after a review by regional management of services.
The bank was originally scheduled to close on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but that proposal brought protests from local people because Tuesday is the town's traditional market day.
"It was going to knock hell out of the whole system," said county councillor Alan Scott, who is also chairman of Middleton Auction Mart.
"About 20 people have put their name on a list indicating they will move their business to another bank altogether, probably at Kirkby Stephen, rather than travel to use Barclays at Barnard Castle," he said.
Barclays regional liaison manager Karen Swainston said the number of people using the bank was one of the reasons for the decision.
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