LLOYDS TSB is to close three of its branches in West Devon and East Cornwall. Bere Alston, Pricetown and Gunnislake branches will close from the first week in December. It means businesses in the villages will no longer have any banking facilities locally. Gloria Sleep from Sleep?s Garage in Bere Alston said they were not happy at the news: ?I did campaign last time the closure was threatened and managed to keep it open, but I knew deep down it wouldn?t last long. ?They say they are losing money all the time, and I think this time there isn?t anything anyone can do to stop it.? The closure would result in trips to Tavistock to carry out transactions, with the extra costs involved, she said. Michael Kinger, of Tamar Valley Butchers in Gunnislake, said the closure was ?another nail in the coffin? and the branch ?helped keep the village going?. Matthew Hughes, manager of the Tavistock Arms Hotel in the village, said they had used the branch twice a week for 15 years. He said: ?When you work and live in a village it is so convenient. We will miss it, but there?s not a lot we can say or do. But it isn?t a two second operation to go to Tavistock or Callington. You have to drive there and find somewhere to park. But it is sad at a time when rural businesses are struggling.? Jenny Coleman, community development manager at the High Moorland Community Action centre in Princetown, said they had not heard of the closure, and it was ?a little disappointing?. ?It will effect any businesses that use them. The trouble with only opening one day a week, it is is never the day you want it,? she said. ?It will be another empty shop ? and they?ve only just painted it!? Leigh Calder, spokesperson for the bank, said they appreciated the stress the closures might cause, and it had been a difficult decision. He said: ?People are using telephone and internet banking and don?t need to call into a branch so much, and it doesn?t justify the cost. ?We have to have two staff at the branches, which are open for just a couple of hours three days a week, but because of the distances involved those staff are tied up for almost a day. ?The closures will enable us to serve a wider community overall by using the staff at other branches.? There are no IT provisions at the branches, and it is not possible to open an account there, so those who use the branches are not registered there. The bank is therefore unable to write to all customers affected, and is having to notify them by placing posters in the branch windows. He said there was ?a positive side? to the closures: ?We were the first of the high street banks to have a relationship with the Post Office, and customers can go into there and access their accounts: pay bills, withdraw cash, pay money in, find out the balance. ?The Post Offices are open six days a week, not one or two like our branches, and they are pleased at the extra custom.? But Mr Calder admitted that this only applied to personal customers ? businesses would have to use their nearest branch.
