MSPs call for action on Moray bank closures

MORAY has lost more than half of its bank branches in the last four and a half years – a fact which has sparked annoyance among local politicians.

Which Magazine’s latest report on bank closures states 59 per cent, or a total of 16, of the area's banks have closed, which is way above the Scottish average.

Some communities, including Lossiemouth, have been left with no banks at all.

Moray's SNP MSP Richard Lochhead said: "This is an astonishing rate of closures and an indictment of the UK Government’s record given that, despite local pleas, Ministers have refused to step in even when the last bank in a community has closed like we recently witnessed in Lossiemouth.

"The fact that rural communities have been hit hardest by the loss of high street bank branches is bad news for our communities, rural businesses and the elderly in particular and now it’s time to say enough is enough."

Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston, who is a member of the Scottish Parliament committee which inquired into bank closures, said: "The closures have hit Moray harder than nearly anywhere else in Scotland, with communities like Lossiemouth and several in Speyside losing all their branches.

"This particularly impacts on older people who are less likely to use online banking, and on small businesses which require regular access to branch facilities.

"We need the banks and other financial institutions to stop the closures and come up with real and workable solutions for those communities which have been left without adequate services."

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