COMMUNITY leaders in Padiham have spoken of their anger at news that the town's branch of the HSBC bank is to shut.

Bank bosses have blamed the closure on the increased use of telephone and internet banking, and the poor location of the Burnley Road branch.

Former Mayor of Padiham, Granville Lord, said: "I thought this branch was quite well used.

"There are certainly a lot of small businesses in the town who need to use a bank.

"What about people who do not want to use telephone banking, or older people who may not have access to the internet? What are they going to do?

"It is not good for the town for a high street branch of a major bank to be closing. It is very poor."

Bernie Andrews, HSBC area director for Lancashire, said: "It is never an easy decision to make when closing a part of our business and I can assure people that no HSBC branch is closed without a very careful examination of customer activity and the suitability of the premises."

She added: "A combination of reduced customer activity and the location of the premises in Padiham means the branch is no longer viable, or suitable, for the way we aim to offer banking services to our customers.

"In arriving at the decision to close the branch we have comprehensively analysed customer usage, the cost of refurbishment that would be required, and the level of activity we would expect at the branch in the future."

The bank said staff would be at the branch to help with any customer queries before the closure, scheduled for the first week in September. The staff are to be re-assigned.

The nearest branches will then be in Accrington and Nelson.