Glastonbury MP James Heappey joined local residents as part of flash mob to try and persuade at least one of Glastonbury's banks to remain on the High Street.
James said, “Saturday’s protest was a wonderful demonstration of just how important this issue is to Glastonbury. The town is internationally famous, attracts visitors the year round and has a very successful high street as a result. I remain certain that had either Barclays, Lloyds or HSBC been considering their options, after the other two announced their closure, the remaining bank would have chosen to stay. There is more than enough activity in the town to justify at least one bank.”
“My priority so far has been to make that argument to Barclays and Lloyds. HSBC are beyond turning now that the bank has actually closed and staff have moved on. I have been given no cause for hope in my dealings with them so far but I will continue to apply pressure. There is an urgency to this as once those banks close, they will not re-open.”
“However, I have also been touting Glastonbury to some of the other banks in the hope that they might see an opportunity in the mistake made by their competitors. There is certainly interest and I will continue to pursue this over the weeks and months ahead.”
“Finally, there are colleagues in Parliament who have been involved in setting up a community bank when towns in their constituency have been faced by a similar situation. Having discussed this with them at some length, it is not a straightforward solution but if Barclays and Lloyds cannot be turned and a new bank cannot be tempted, then we would not be the first to simply take matters into our own hands.”
