A 'SERIOUS' situation of banking was discussed at a town council meeting following the news that a town's TSB branch is to reduce its working hours.

Pershore's TSB branch will reduce its working hours to two days a week and will only be open on Thursdays and Fridays.

This comes after Barclays and HSBC branches have also closed in the town in recent years leaving just Lloyds and TSB.

It was decided at the Pershore Town Council meeting on Thursday, May 16 that the council would write to a local MP with its concerns about the situation around banking in Pershore, and to ask for help in keeping TSB in the town, pressing that "we need adequate banking facilities in the future". Town Clerk Ann Dobbins said. "The situation is getting really serious. All we can do is make our dissatisfaction known."

Some councillors highlighted the fact that some people prefer to speak to a human being about their accounts, rather than bank online, and that some older people are not able to bank online.

However some councillors in attendance said that while they 'deplore' what is happening with TSB, and what is happening with banking as a whole; banks closing around the country is indicative of the digital direction the modern world is moving in, and of how cash is being removed from society. Some said it was inevitable that the bank would eventually close. One councillor admitted that most people he knows including himself use online banking as is it 'convenient.'

Ms Dobbins suggested it would be worth contacting the Glastonbury Project to see if they could advise them with a view of possibly encouraging a new bank to open in Pershore.

In April 2016, Glastonbury's last bank closed. In November 2016 Nationwide Building Society announced that they would open a branch but only if they were guaranteed 300 customers to make it worthwhile. After their first consultation they had over 1200 people pledging to open accounts and when they opened they had to take on additional staff to cope with the opening of new accounts.

Ms Dobbins said the council has written to TSB with their concerns, but were yet to hear a reply.