The Withdrawal of bank services from Gresford is bad news for the village, Wrexham MP Ian Lucas has said.
Mr Lucas – a keen proponent of regional banking – said the decision by Santander to withdraw services from an agency based in Gresford showed how international financial institutions remained distant from the communities they were meant to serve.
Under the proposals, services could be withdrawn from a number of North Wales branches, including Gresford, later this year.
Mr Lucas called for a regional bank for North Wales to be set up in the Commons last week, a proposal which Welsh Secretary David Jones indicated he may consider.
S[peaking today, he said:
“This is of course bad news for Gresford and I would urge Santander to reconsider.
“However, the reality is that Santander is, like so many other of our banks, divorced from the communities it is meant to serve. This means we villages like Gresford lose local services, and it also means that large financial institutions don’t have to meet the needs of local communities when it comes to wider issues like providing funding for small businesses.
“What we need is a truly local bank – which is why I am asking the Government to consider a regional bank for North Wales.”
