ODD, isn't it, that just as banks are shutting High Street branches at a worrying rate - as we saw only this week in East Lancashire - now they might be opening up in supermarkets?.

For the giant Tesco chain, we are told, is considering a link-up with the Nat West - the very bank that's pulling the plug on four branches in our region - to offer shoppers deposit accounts and credit card facilities.

So do we now glimpse a future in which a red light flashes at the check-out when your grocery bill exceeds your overdraft limit?

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