SANTANDER has come under heavy fire following the shock announcement its Wey Hill branch will shut on April 25.

Haslemere will be left with just one bank – Lloyds – following Santander’s announcement on January 23 that its town branch was one of 140 earmarked for closure, putting 1,270 jobs at risk nationally.

Santander blamed the closures on “changes in how customers are choosing to carry out their banking” and said branch transactions have fallen 23 per cent in the past three years, while digital transactions have soared 99 per cent.

The closure of its Haslemere branch is a double whammy as it will also leave the town with one less cash machine.

Taking up the cudgels, Waverley Borough Council is writing to Santander to express its concern over the bank’s decision to close two branches in the area – its Godalming branch closes on June 6.

The council is worried about the impact of potential job losses in the community and also the lack of banking facilities for those who rely on a face-to-face service.

This week, Waverley’s portfolio holder for economic development, Haslemere borough councillor Jim Edwards, said: “This is of particular concern in a rural borough like Waverley, where a large proportion of people rely on the bank branches for a valued face-to-face service.

“We are committed to retaining the post offices in the borough. However, they are not a complete replacement for bank branches as they don’t have ATMs for out-of-hours use.

“The council is in the process of mapping cashpoints across the borough to ascertain their location and availability so we can better understand the impact this will have.”

Haslemere Town Council is also calling on Santander to reconsider. Writing to the Herald (see Letters on Page 17), town mayor David Round said: “This closure of yet another bank branch is a blow to the town and will cause hardship and irritation to a number of residents – particularly the elderly and those who do not use internet banking.

“While we can take some comfort from the recent opening of the new post office at Haslewey, where many banking facilities are available, it is not the same as being able to go in and speak to someone who has access to all your bank details and can offer advice.

“I have written to the CEO of Santander asking how they expect their customers to cope. We will let you know if we succeed in getting a reply.”

Haslemere NatWest closed in June 2018, shortly after Barclays and HSBC both closed their branches in the High Street. The departure of Santander will leave only Lloyds to serve a catchment area of more than 25,000 people.

Taking action last week on the day the closures were announced, Haslemere borough councillor Robert Knowles urged Waverley to do its utmost to try to prevent Santander from axing two branches across the patch.

Mr Knowles called on lead borough councillor Mr Edwards to tell residents what action he was taking on behalf of residents, warning Santander’s excuse that a post office can be used is “not like for like” and that there were no ATMs at Haslemere post offices.

A campaign to stop Haslemere becoming an ATM ‘desert’ was launched by Hindhead town councillor Malcolm Carter in 2018 when he was town mayor. Mr Carter called for the Payment Systems Regulator to review the withdrawal of cash machines from communities, objecting the reduced provision was also affecting retailers, with a significant increase in the number of customers asking for ‘cash back’ with purchases.

This week, Haslemere Chamber of Commerce president Craig McGowan told the Herald: “The chamber is actively seeking alternative sites for an ATM and we hope some will become available soon.

“The government should now be applying more pressure on LINK to install more ATMs. They already agree there are not enough for a town the size of Haslemere.

“The chamber would also like to see closer cooperation between the Post Office and the banks to make it easier for businesses to bank cheques and cash at post offices. ”