Newmarket: Disappointment as Halifax and Barclays to close

Halifax has confirmed its intention to shut its branch in Market Street in the west Suffolk town on September 11 this year.

In mid-March, Barclays announced it was planning to shut its High Street branch in June.

After the banks close, it will leave NatWest, Nationwide and Lloyds as the only major banking options in the town.

The nearby town of Mildenhall will have none when Barclays leaves later this year.

Andy Drummond, Suffolk county councillor for Newmarket (Image: Amy Drummond)

Confirming the closure, a Halifax spokesman said: "Like many other high street businesses, we’ve seen people using our branches less frequently in recent years as more customers choose to do most of their everyday banking online.

"As a result, we've made the difficult decision to close this branch because customers are using it less often.

"In addition the majority of customers are also using alternative ways to bank."

Andy Drummond, county councillor for Newmarket, said he was concerned residents and Halifax and Barclays customers would have no access to cash or other services when the branches shut their doors for the final time.

He said: "It is quite disappointing news. It's a shame we won't have these banks. Will we still have a hole in the wall?

"We also used to have a HSBC, but we lost that too. 

"It's not just Newmarket though – we can't single out one town. It's the banks themselves that are deciding this. Even Cambridge has had banks in the high street close.

"If we are going to lose these banking services, will we still have somewhere to complete the more complex transactions?"