Sadness as two Shropshire Barclays branches close for good

Barclays is "abandoning" its rural customers by closing branches in Ludlow and Bridgnorth, MP Philip Dunne said.

Two branches of Barclays used by more than 350 customers have now permanently closed.

The banks in Ludlow and Bridgnorth had suffered dwindling transactions in recent years, the financial giant said.

Ludlow MP Philip Dunne said the bank was abandoning rural communities, adding it meant there would be no Barclays branches in his constituency.

The area lost its branches in Craven Arms in 2017, and Much Wenlock and Church Stretton in 2018.

The next nearest are in Telford or Shrewsbury.

"Both Ludlow and Bridgnorth have a significant population of elderly and vulnerable people, who may not use the branch daily, but rely on a local branch presence when they need help and advice," Conservative Mr Dunne said.

Barclays said the number of counter transactions at both sites had gone down in the two years to March 2020, with 80% of Ludlow customers and 83% of Bridgnorth customers choosing to bank in other ways, such as online or by telephone.

At Ludlow, only 251 customers had been exclusively using the branch for their banking, with 113 in Bridgnorth, the company said.