THE closure of the Yorkshire Bank in Richmond has been described as a “hard blow” for local villages already some distance from a branch.

The town council has written to the manager of the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group, calling for the organisation to reduce service at the branch, rather than close if fully.

The bank on Richmond’s Market Place will close on April 20 this year and accounts transferred to the Darlington branch.

In the letter to the manager of the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group, the council said: “The mayor and town councillors would like to register our dismay, along with many residents of Richmond and the surrounding Dales at the announced closure of the Richmond branch of Yorkshire Bank.

“Rural villages nowadays have become quite accustomed to all branches now being closed and having to travel for their banking facilities, but to close a town branch that serves those rural communities is a hard blow.

“Other banks within the town have adjusted their opening times in order to make themselves economically viable but the announcement of a closure of the Yorkshire Bank has come as terrible news.

“This is the Yorkshire Bank, supposedly so called as for the benefit of Yorkshire people, understanding the rural area they live in.”

The next nearest branches for residents in Richmond and that area of the Dales will be out of Yorkshire in Darlington or further afield in Northallerton.

The bank is closing 79 branches with the loss of more than 400 jobs, including branches in Richmond, Ripon and Pickering in North Yorkshire.

News of the closures were followed days later by HSBC announcing it was closing 62 branches this year, including one in Leyburn and another in Stokesley, on top of 55 branches it closed last year.

The Yorkshire Bank said the move was the result of a shift in the way customers do banking, using telephone, internet and mobile services.

In an impact assessment on the Richmond closure, the bank stated: “Over the next few months we will continue to work with our customers and the community to ensure appropriate services are in place to support our customers’ banking needs and ensure there is sufficient access to local banking services. “