AN MP has taken her fight to save a town’s only bank to the House of Commons - despite it closing last week.

Helen Goodman, Bishop Auckland’s Labour MP, campaigned with residents to prevent Shildon’s HSBC branch from closing last Friday (October 12).

As part of the protests the campaigners launched a petition which attracted 400 signatures.

Ms Goodman presented the petition on the floor of the House of Commons today (October 17) calling on HSBC to reconsider the closure.

She has also called on HSBC to make a donation to a local credit union to help those affected by the Shildon bank’s closure.

Ms Goodman said: “HSBC says it wants to rebuild trust but they are abandoning our community.

“The bank closure is a real blow to Shildon and to the 10,000 local people and up to 800 local businesses that bank with HSBC.

“The very least that HSBC could do having taken this decision is to make a substantial contribution to the Durham County Credit Union.

“Then it could expand to cover Shildon and I have written to the bank asking it to do this.”

Campaigners fear the bank’s closure will leave elderly and disabled residents with a six mile round trip to reach a bank.

They also fear that businesses will look elsewhere for premises where they can access banking facilities easier.

HSBC was unavailable to comment on the issue at the time of going to press.