Knaresborough library to host banking lifeline

Knaresborough's last bank closed in 2021, but residents will now get a "vital lifeline", Harrogate Council said

People living in a Yorkshire town with no bank will soon be able to sort their financial affairs at the local library, a building society has pledged.

Knaresborough's last remaining bank closed in 2021, but Newcastle Building Society has said it will step in to maintain access to financial services.

The building society already operates within a library in the Yorkshire Dales market town of Hawes.

The Knaresborough branch is expected to open in the summer.

Councillor Greg White, from North Yorkshire County Council, said it was "a great way of multi-purposing an already well-used building".

The new branch would "increase footfall into Knaresborough library and encourage new visitors through the doors", he said.

Graham Swift of Harrogate Borough Council said the Knaresborough facility would be a "vital lifeline" for the town's residents.

The borough council said it had also worked with Barclays to bring its mobile banking service to the town.