Three more Lloyds Bank closures on the outskirts of Powys will force some residents to travel even further to access a branch.
Last week, Lloyds Banking Group announced plans to shut another 136 branches by March 2026, including 61 Lloyds, 61 Halifax, and 14 Bank of Scotland locations. Closures will begin in May.
The latest closures include the Ludlow branch in South Shropshire, set to close on May 20, and the Leominster branch in Herefordshire, which will shut on November 18. Pontardawe’s branch in the lower Swansea Valley will also close, on November 19.
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Last week, Lloyds Banking Group announced plans to shut another 136 branches by March 2026, including 61 Lloyds, 61 Halifax, and 14 Bank of Scotland locations. Closures will begin in May.
The latest closures include the Ludlow branch in South Shropshire, set to close on May 20, and the Leominster branch in Herefordshire, which will shut on November 18. Pontardawe’s branch in the lower Swansea Valley will also close, on November 19.
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00:00David Chadwick. It's a pleasure to serve under your chairship and I'd like to
00:07thank the Honourable and gallant member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
00:11for securing this timely debate. We heard just last week that the banks will be
00:16closing more of their doors on their own customers. Lloyds Bank have decided to
00:20close an extra 136 bank branches despite making 7.5 billion pounds in
00:29pre-tax profit in 2023, an increase of 57%. This followed years of tax cuts
00:36given to them by the past Conservative government and Lloyds has decided to
00:41reward its customers by closing its doors on them. Well shame on Lloyds Bank.
00:47Banks have been permanent fixtures on our high streets for centuries. The
00:51Lloyds Bank branch in Bracken was founded in 1778 and is part of our
00:56town's history. Bank closures will reduce footfall in our town centres
01:01hurting the local economy. Pontedour's Lloyds Bank will also close in November.
01:07Over 300 local residents have already told me about the challenges that this
01:13will cause them. The elderly and vulnerable people in Pontedour deserve
01:17to have somewhere safe and easy to go to access their own cash and the same is
01:22true of local businesses. Pontedour is a gorgeous town with some very successful
01:28high street businesses and the banks closing will make life harder for those
01:32local traders. The banks are abusing their market dominance to pile pressure
01:37and costs on the local businesses that can ill afford it. Local traders are
01:43being told to make further and further journeys just to access cash. That's
01:48piling the costs onto them and our local economies will suffer as a result.
01:52Imagine being a wheelchair user in Pristine. After the bank branch on that
01:57high street closes on March the 3rd, the nearest banking hub when it opens will
02:02be in Leinster, 14 miles away. The bus journey time to get there is two and a
02:09half hours. Why are we letting our banks do this to people? Whilst these bank
02:14branches remain open, the government must ensure that they remain so and remind
02:21Lloyds Bank and all the other banks that it is the government that's in charge
02:25and setting the conditions for our banks and not the other way around.