Barclays Bank to close Newmarket branch due to falling use by customers

Barclays Bank has announced it will be closing its Newmarket branch in June.

In a letter to customers, the bank said the High Street bank would be shutting its doors on Friday June 9, because less than 10 customers used the branch regularly as the only way to do their banking.

And it said 18 per cent of the branch's customers had used nearby branches in the last year.

According to figures published by consumer champion Which, Barclays is the individual bank which has reduced its network the most with 1,001 branches having closed, or are scheduled to close by the end of this year.

One of the customers affected by the closure is Newmarket pensioner, Catriona Pilborough, 66, who has been using the branch for more than 30 years.

She said she was very angry about the bank's decision.

"I don't have a laptop, I don't have a computer, and I don't have a mobile phone," she said. " I don't like using ATMs because I am concerned about fraud. I just want to be able to go into the bank.

"This has come totally out of the blue. They say they appreciate the community will be upset, so why are they doing it. Newmarket is an international place, banks are needed particularly when Tattersalls have their sales. I am really upset about this decision."

Barclays is the latest bank to quit High Street premises in Newmarket. HSBC closed in September last year and Santander shut its branch in 2019. The three banks which remain are Lloyds, Nationwide and NatWest.