By Democrat reporter
Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton Constituency, has said the announced closure of the TSB branches in both Alexandria and Helensburgh are “completely unacceptable.”
This follows hard on the heels of the recent closure of the TSB branch in Dumbarton High Street, which was a gold mine for the bankers who looked after the salaries and savings of the large workforce at the Hiram Walker and later Allied Distillers distillery.
And the Clydesdale Bank branches in Dumbarton, Helensburgh and the Vale of Leven.
One former TSB customer said: “The TSB (and the other banks) were content to profit for more than half a century from the whisky workers’ money but now that particular well has run dry they are off like a shot from a gun. These people have no loyalty. Fred the Shred was saint compared to these bluffers. People who show loyalty should be treated like royalty.
“The Clydesdale Bank have done the same in Dumbarton and Helensburgh. People who consider on-line banking unsafe and vulnerable to fraud, particularly elderly people, feel let down by the banks. Many of them must at least have given a thought to keeping their money under the mattress.”
And it was the same for the Royal Bank of Scotland who closed in Vale of Leven and attempted to fob off their customers with a hole in the wall bank.
Jackie Baillie has said that it is vital that local people have easy access to bank branches. She has written to the TSB to express her anger at the decision, demanding that it is reconsidered, and to find out how the bank plans to support many local customers without having a branch open in Helensburgh or Alexandria, with the nearest branch will be at Clydebank.
Jackie Baillie MSP said: “The closure of yet more TSB branches in my constituency is completely unacceptable. Now more than ever, local people need to be able to have easy access to their bank and it is vital that they feel supported during what is a very uncertain time for us all.
“By closing these branches – along with the previous closure of the Dumbarton branch – TSB are making it clear that customer well-being and satisfaction is simply not a priority for them.
“Banks are increasingly a law unto themselves – closing branches and removing ATMs from local areas making it harder to access cash. This must stop as it is having a detrimental effect on local people, businesses and our high streets.
“I will seek an urgent meeting with the TSB to try to get them to reconsider these closures in Helensburgh and Alexandria.”