Join the petition to block bank closure

Lesley Laird, MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, has launched a petition to block its closure.

And she has urged bank bosses to stop the town becoming the next “banking desert”.

The branch– the last bank left in town – is due to close in February.

Ms Laird has joined councillors Mary Lockhart and Linda Erskine to launch a petition calling on BOS to think again.

She said: “The plan to close the branch will hit elderly and vulnerable customers hard, make no mistake - not only in Lochgelly but in the neighbouring towns of Benarty and Cardenden.

“While BOS reasons that customers will only have to travel 2.2 miles away to the next available branch in Cowdenbeath, in reality some people will have to take three buses to get there.

‘‘That’s an unacceptable alternative for people with mobility issues or those for whom every last penny counts.”

Ms Laid has written to BOS requesting a meeting to discuss the Lochgelly branch and also to RBS to propose a new wider banking strategy.

She said: “RBS recently closed a number of branches in my constituency and outlined to customers alternative branch banking arrangements only to subsequently close these alternative branches within a very short period of time.

“There seems to be no wider corporate social responsibility from banks to ensure no communities are left in a ‘banking desert’ which is effectively what will happen in Lochgelly.”

She added: “The pace of technology banking is moving quickly - but that should not mean that communities and customers get left behind because they either can’t or don’t wish to do so. There are challenges with connectivity in many areas and technology solutions are not always practical.

View the petition here

{http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-lochgellys-last-bank.html|Bank Petitition|Click here to visit website}