Whitby: Plan to close last high street bank criticised

Halifax said customer transactions at its Whitby branch had fallen by 48% between 2018 and 2023

Councillors have criticised plans to close a North Yorkshire town's last remaining high street bank.

Halifax has announced its Whitby branch will shut in January 2025, with the firm's next nearest bank located almost 20 miles away in Scarborough.

It said transactions at the branch had fallen by 48% between 2018 and 2023 with a shift to online banking.

Linda Wild from Whitby Town Council said: "Our message to the financial sector is this: don't abandon Whitby."

The bank's nearest branch is almost 20 miles away

Phil Trumper from Whitby Council said there were "a considerable demographic" of people "who don't do internet banking".

"It will have a negative effect on those people," he said.

"I also don't know what businesses are going to use for cash. Whitby has a population of more than 13,000 - we do still need a high street bank."

'Not good enough'

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, more than 40% of banks in Scarborough and Whitby have closed since 2015 and nationally more than 5,790 bank branches have shut in the same period.

Ms Wild, who chairs the council's finance committee, confirmed they had been approached about setting up a banking hub.

Operated by the Post Office, banking hubs give communities access to banking services and face-to-face support from all major high street providers.

Neil Swannick, who represents the Whitby Streonshalh division on the council, said customers "encounter regular problems dealing with bank computer systems and need a friendly human to help them".

"Handing all these responsibilities over to the Post Office is not good enough given the profits and bonuses being paid by banks to shareholders and senior staff," he said.