FEARS have been raised over the future of Cardigan’s Barclays Bank following Friday’s announcement that the Lampeter branch is to close.

Barclays say their branch on Harford Square will close on Tuesday, August 23 following a fall in customers and transactions.

This would leave the nearest Barclays branches to Lampeter in Llandeilo and Carmarthen.

Cardigan town councillor Clive Davies – a member of Ceredigion County Council’s Cabinet – is now urging Ceredigion MP Ben Lake to pursue the matter with the UK Government.

“It’s disappointing to hear of yet another bank closure in a Ceredigion market town,” Cllr Davies told the Tivy-Side.

“It also makes a mockery when, in very same week, the UK Government announced new powers for the Financial Conduct Authority to protect access to cash in communities.

“This announcement means Cardigan will be one of only two branches of Barclays left in Ceredigion - the other being at Aberystwyth.

“Here in Cardigan we have already seen the loss of Nat West replaced by a mobile banking facility which visits the town for around 45 minutes.

“I know banking practices have changed, but we still have members of the community who rely on counter and cash services including small businesses.”

Mr Lake also described the Lampeter move as ‘bitterly disappointing’.

“Too many towns in Ceredigion have seen branches close in recent years, to the extent that Aberaeron, Llandysul, New Quay, and Tregaron have lost all of their bank branches,” he said.

“I am far from convinced that this decision can be justified on the basis of reduced demand given the closure of so many local branches in recent years and shall be meeting with Barclays in the near future to challenge it.”

Barclays said they had ‘identified that only 151 customers use the (Lampeter) branch exclusively for their banking’.

The branch had switched to a four-day week and was only open between 9.30am and 2.30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Figures indicate that counter transactions in the branch fell between 2017/18 and 2019/20 - the last figures prior to the Covid pandemic - by around 600 to 29,384.