Green MSP Slams Helensburgh Bank Closure Plan
Green MSP for the West of Scotland, Ross Greer, has called on Santander to reverse its plans to close their Helensburgh branch. The closure is one of 15 planned closures of Santander branches across Scotland and 140 across the UK. It will leave local customers having to travel into Glasgow, a round trip of around 50 miles.
Ross Greer made the call in a parliamentary motion expressing solidarity with workers whose jobs are under threat and with communities who will lose a vital local service.
Greer commented: “This closure will cause real disruption and inconvenience for many of Santander’s customers and it will further isolate elderly customers in particular, who are unable to travel miles to the next branch and who cannot access online banking. Bank branches are a vital part of most communities but they are rapidly disappearing. This is the inevitable result of a largely unregulated private banking industry more interested in its own bottom line than in customer service.
“I have written to Santander in the hope that, in conjunction with staff and their unions, they can work to find alternative solutions which protect local jobs and banking services.”