TWO former high street bank buildings have been sold off in Richmond and Stokesley.

Richmond’s former Natwest bank, on the town’s market square, was sold at Pugh’s Yorkshire property auction at Elland Road Stadium in Leeds for £232,000.

This was a £56,000 increase on the £175,000 guide price.

At the same auction, the former HSBC bank in Stokesley town centre went under the hammer for £274,000.

The three-storey, 3,300 sq ft building on Burley Street, which closed last year, was put up for sale by HSBC with a guide price of £250,000.

In Richmond, Natwest closed their 2,000 sq ft, three-storey premises earlier this year as part of its national programme of 179 branch closures.

The former HSBC in Stokesley

Paul Thompson, managing director of Pugh auction house, said: “The high-street assets held by banks across the country are being reevaluated as more and more people opt to manage their finances online.

"The branch buildings are often in prime locations right in the heart of a town, ideal for redevelopment.

“Richmond itself is a North Yorkshire gem, a gateway to the dales and a popular tourist destination within reach of the A1, so it will be exciting to see what the new owner will do with the building.”

Commenting on the Stokesley sale, Mr Thompson said it was "tremendously satisfying" to know that his company played a part in finding a new purpose for a town centre building.

Stokesley has been hit with the loss of three of its town centre bank branches within 12-months.

Many people now conduct their banking affairs online and this has prompted banks to close dozens of local branches across the country.

In the past five years, HSBC’s branches have seen a 40 per cent decline in customer visits, as 90 per cent of HSBC’s customer interactions now take place online.

However, rural areas can particularly suffer due to unreliable internet connections and elderly populations that may not feel as confident banking online as younger people are.

This has prompted Richmondshire MP Rishi Sunak to call on the government to protect Post Office services in the future as for many residents they represent the only place locally that they can access over-the-counter banking services.

North Yorkshire County Councillor Bryn Griffith, who lives in Stokesley, is so concerned that earlier this year he called for intervention to ensure some form of banking facilities remain accessible to residents.