People have expressed their outrage at the closure of a Barclays bank, leaving a town without a single banking branch.

Residents in Barnoldswick were told the Barclays bank, in Church Street, would be closing in April.

As they only bank branch left in the town, this has worried many, who still rely on cash for their day-to-day transactions, and has left the area with only a handful of free cash machines.

Now Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson has expressed his anger at Barclays shock decision to close its Barnoldswick branch.

According to Barclays, it will be closing the Barnoldswick branch from Friday, April 14.

The bank said it “will still have a new and alternative physical presence” but did not provide detailed information of what this would involve.

The nearest Barclays branches are in Skipton and Burnley.

Mr Stephenson only found out about the news when contacted by concerned Barnoldswick residents, and slammed the bank for not talking to the town’s political representatives before making the decision.

He said: “Barclay’s decision to close its Barnoldswick branch has shocked me and will be of deep concern to residents of Barnoldswick and the surrounding West Craven area.

“It is disgraceful that they did not consult with those elected to represent the town before making this outrageous decision.

“This will leave a major town without a proper bank branch, in breach of commitments made by the high street banking sector around people having access to banking.

“For those who rely on the branch for their banking and don’t want to bank online, this will be a hammer blow.

“I am pursuing an urgent meeting with Barclays. They must provide the town with clearer information about their plan to serve their customers and to honour their commitments.”

Barclays has justified its decision to close the branch by saying 88 per cent of people who use the town’s branch also use internet banking, bank via their app, or on the phone.

It said only 16 customers use the bank regularly and 31 per cent of its customers have used other nearby branches in the last 12 months.

In a letter it said: “We will be working with the local community to understand the impact of closing this branch.

“Once we’ve gathered feedback we’ll publish the results in a booklet called ‘Branch Closure Feedback’, which you can get from your branch or online at home.barclays/ukbranchclosures.”

Barclays also said it will stay in the community in order to communicate with customers in person, and is finalising the details of where it will be based.

When finalised, staff will be able to help with day-to-day banking but there will be no access to cash at the site.

One Barnoldswick resident said: “Disgusting; I'll be moving to Skipton Building Society, Barnoldswick, never thought we'd be without a bank.”

While another said: “Oh great. No banks left in the town now. Guess another take-away or pub.

"Don't think about the people who don't use internet banking and rely on actual banks and haven't got transport. What a joke.”

Another person said: “That's the last real bank in the entire town. The Lloyds mobile service may be less than ideal but I imagine a few more Barlickers will be moving over to them.

“Let's just hope no one tries to turn the Barclays building into another half-cocked apology for a health centre.”