CEREDIGION MP Ben Lake has called for called for a publicly-supported, community-based bank network in a debate in Westminster on the role of banks and their responsibility to the communities they serve.

The debate was held following the Royal Bank of Scotland’s announcement in December to close 259 branches across the UK, including its NatWest branch at Cardigan High Street.

A public meeting is to be held at the town's Guildhall on Thursday (January 18) at 7.30pm.

In the debate, Mr Lake MP said: “These closures present a range of challenges to both personal and business banking; challenges that are magnified in rural areas.

“The closure of one branch will often require transferring to another branch many miles away. This is a particular problem for older people, or those with poor mobility, and, again, living in rural communities, where transport links are few and far between, merely exacerbates the problem.

“Bank branch closures also creates serious obstacles for businesses, and especially small, family-run businesses which still play such a vital role in rural towns and villages. These owners are forced to close just so that they can travel to their nearest branch to cash their takings."

Mr Lake said the best way to combat the current situation would be to develop a publicly-supported community-based bank network, along the lines of the German community banking model, but he recognised that it wouldn’t be possible to implement such a model overnight.

He called on UK Government ministers to arrange an urgent summit of all the major UK retail banks in order to discuss their future plans with regards to their branch networks.

“For too long, the approach to branch closures has been reactive; waiting for decisions, and then allowing them to happen,” said Mr Lake.

“We desperately need to decide what services we cannot do without. Work needs to begin on defining, and then introducing a statutory minimum level of banking services for any community, so that our position is stronger in the future.”