30 towns and villages most at risk of being bankless in 2024 - see full list

06 December 2023 , 10:34

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Banks are closing hundreds of branches (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Thousands of bank branches have closed in recent years, with hundreds more set to follow over the next few months.

Banks blaming a rapid rise in mobile and online banking. But campaign groups have warned the closures risk cutting off vulnerable groups of people and the elderly, who may not have access to digital services.

According to Which? consumer group, banks and building societies have closed 5,791 branches since January 2015. This works out at around 54 being shut each month.

Now, new research from This is Money has shown the 30 towns and villages that could be left completely without a bank in 2024. This includes places in Derbyshire, Somerset and London. You can see the full list below, which was compiled using data from Link, which tracks bank closures.

NatWest Group, which includes NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank, has closed the most branches since 2015, having shut 1,330 sites. Barclays has shut 1,130 branches, while Lloyds Banking Group, which is made up of Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, has shut down 1,057 locations.

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Major high street banks have agreed to run shared hubs to help people maintain access to banking services in areas where branches are closing. These are set up in public places, such as libraries, with a different bank running the hub each day. Other alternatives include mobile and pop up banks, however these don't normally offer cash or counter services.

Responding to the latest round of bank closures, Jenny Ross, Which? Money Editor, said: "These closures are yet another nail in the coffin for the UK's high-street banking infrastructure and will see some towns lose more than one bank within a matter of days or weeks - suggesting little thought has been given to the impact on the communities they serve.

"The Government must protect the needs of local communities. Banking hubs could play an important role in this, but the rollout is taking far too long and more hubs must open as soon as possible to stop millions of consumers being left behind."

Towns and villages at risk of being bankless in 2024

The list below shows the locations and last bank remaining in that area.

• Ballymoney, County Antrim - Danske
• Bolsover, Derbyshire - Lloyds
• Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire - Virgin Money
• Colne, Lancashire - Santander
• Dolgellau, Gwynedd - HSBC
• Erskine, Renfrewshire - Halifax
• Flint, Flintshire - TSB
• Glossop, Derbyshire - Lloyds
• Guisborough, North Yorkshire - HSBC
• Holywell, Flintshire - Santander
• Ilkley, West Yorkshire - Santander
• Jarrow, South Tyneside - Lloyds
• Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria - NatWest
• Lampeter, Ceredigion - HSBC
• Linlithgow, West Lothian - Bank of Scotland
• Moreton-in-March, Gloucestershire - Lloyds
• Norbury, South London - NatWest
• Okehampton, Devon - Lloyds
• Pickering, North Yorkshire - Barclays
• Portishead, Somerset - NatWest
• Renfrew, Renfrewshire - Bank of Scotland
• Ripon, North Yorkshire - HSBC
• Saxmundham, Suffolk - HSBC
• Somerton, Somerset - Lloyds
• Spennymoor, County Durham - Lloyds
• Storrington, West Sussex - HSBC
• Totnes, Devon - Lloyds
• Wednesbury, West Midlands - Lloyds
• Whitchurch, Shorpshire - Lloyds

Levi Winchester