Fleetwood to lose Santander branch

Fleetwood's Santander branch looks set to close in July.

No other branches on the Fylde coast, the five sites at Blackpool, St Annes, Lytham, Poulton and Cleveleys, will be affected in the latest round of closures.

Santander’s outlet at Kirkham closed in October.

The plans for the branch on Lord Street, Fleetwood, due to close on June 27, will leave the town with just one surviving bank branch, the Halifax on Poulton Street.

In recent years it has lost branches of Barclays, HSBC, the Nat West and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

There was shock in Fleetwood at the latest news.

At popular gift shop The Mole Hole, on Lord Street, staff said they were still recovering from the recent loss of the nearby Royal Bank of Scotland.

One employee said: “It’s hard to believe we’re losing another bank, it’s absoultely disgusting.”

Staff may be re-sited to other branches where possible, the bank says.

Susan Allen, head of retail and Business Banking, said: “The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels.

“As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches, and those where we have other branches in close proximity.

“We will support customers of closing branches to find alternative ways to bank with us that best suit their individual needs.

“We are also working alongside our unions to support colleagues through these changes and to find alternative roles for those impacted wherever possible.”

“We continue to believe that branches have a vital role to play and we will be refurbishing 100 of our branches over the next two years.

“We are confident that following these changes we will have the right branch network to serve our customers’ changing needs, and we expect the size of our network to remain stable for the foreseeable future.”