AN MP is to seek urgent talks with bank officials after NatWest announced the closure of its Radcliffe branch.

The business will shut by the end of August, with all accounts being transferred to the Bury branch.

Customers were told by letter this week about the closure of the Blackburn Street office.

Seven members of staff will be transferred to other branches, with no job losses. Local MP Ivan Lewis is among those dismayed by the news and wants talks with the bank.

Mr Jack Hartley, South East Lancashire area manager, said that plastic cards, cash machines and telephone banking meant people no longer needed a local branch.

He added: "No bank likes to close any of its branches in a community and we have stayed in Radcliffe as long as we possibly could. However, we can no longer justify our presence in the town."

As another major business pulls out of Radcliffe, residents fear it may sound a final death-knoll for the town.

Mrs Anne-Marie Jones, of Bridge Close, said: "If services like banks are taken out of Radcliffe then people will go out of the town more and more. They will have to go to Bury to use the bank and then they will stay there to do their shopping.

"Efforts are being made to renew Radcliffe and it doesn't seem right to pull out of a town that needs renewing. We are trying to bring back some life into Radcliffe but the NatWest has shown it has no commitment to this." Mrs Jones said she used the bank at least once a week and usually had to queue. It was very important to have a local branch and she was sure there were enough customers to keep it going.

"It was such a shock to hear that it is going to close and I don't know how the elderly are going to manage. It's inconvenient enough for me to go into Bury but some of them don't have cars and Bury is too far to travel."

Bury South MP Mr Lewis said: "I'm very concerned about this. It will do nothing to help us regenerate the town centre.

"The NatWest should have a more responsible attitude to the local community and I will be seeking urgent discussions with their management."

This is the second branch of the NatWest to close in the borough, with the announcement last month that the Sedgley Park office in Prestwich would close.

It will leave only two banks in Radcliffe: the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays.

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