South Leicestershire MP, Alberto Costa, is seeking an urgent meeting with Santander following their announcement this morning to close the branch in Blaby village on 1st July - this is part of their plans to close 111 bank branches in total across the UK this summer.
Alberto was informed by the bank about their plans to close the Blaby branch this morning – this follows banks such as Lloyds and HSBC closing their branches in the village in recent years as well as Barclays closing their only South Leicestershire branch in Enderby.
The MP has expressed his ‘serious concern’ at the lack of available bank services in rural areas and plans to meet with Santander soon to discuss their reasoning behind the closure announced today (25th March).
Alberto said, “I am extremely disappointed with Santander’s announcement today to close their bank branch in Blaby village effective from the 1st of July. Blaby, and my wider South Leicestershire constituency, has seen the number of bricks and mortar bank branches plummet in recent years, and I have serious concerns over the lack of accessibility for my constituents who live in rural areas and may not feel comfortable using internet banking. Also, I know a number of local businesses utilise the Blaby branch regularly for depositing cheques and other such services, so again this is another inconvenience at what is already such a difficult time for so many”.
Alberto added, “I do hope to be meeting with senior representatives from Santander in early course to discuss their rationale behind this decision, and to see if they might consider staying the branch’s closure at least until the worst of the present pandemic has passed. I understand that footfall in physical banks has been decreasing over the past few years, but these banks ultimately have customers and account holders they are required to provide a service to and I should like to see more of them keeping this in mind especially for residents in rural areas who may not be able to travel to the larger cities and towns to access an essential service”.
