NEWS that Grange-over-Sands is to lose its last bank has been greeted by a mixture of anger and anxiety in the town.

The announcement that Grange’s Lloyds branch will close in August follows just weeks after it was confirmed that the nearby Barclays branch would close in May, and Grange mayor Cllr Peter Endsor said it was a desperate blow for residents.

“This is a very sad day for Grange,” he said.

“We lost our last Saturday bus and now we are going to lose our last bank.”

“There are 4,000 people in the town and we just seem to have disappeared off the radar.”

And MP Tim Farron, who raised the issue during Prime Minister’s Question Time this week, said he was furious with Theresa May’s response that banks are “commercial organisations and those are decisions that they take.”

“It’s absolutely staggering and hugely disappointing that the Prime Minister has decided to turn her back on communities like Grange that have been abandoned by the banks,” said the Westmorland and Lonsdale MP.

“People who have been victims of financial fraud and those who have been let down by the banks deserve better than the Prime Minister shrugging her shoulders.”

Lloyds confirmed last week that their branch on Lowther Gardens would close its doors on August 19.

“We have made the difficult decision to close this branch because customers are using it less often,” said the bank in a brief statement.

Mr Endsor said the announcement would cause untold stress to the town’s many elderly and vulnerable people who were particularly at risk from fraud when they engaged in internet banking, especially as it came at a time when such fraud was at record levels.

He said it was hoped an agreement could be reached with the bank for it to provide a service from a mobile facility for up to three days a week.

Lloyds’ announcement comes just a month after another small town in the region also looked set to lose its last bank when Barclays revealed plans to shut its Hawes branch.