A DECISION to close the TSB branch in North Berwick, leaving just one bank in the coastal town, has been branded “short-sighted”.

In a motion to go before East Lothian Council next week, ward councillor Jeremy Findlay will ask fellow members to condemn the decision to shut the branch in January 2021 – seven months after TSB closed its Dunbar branch in the county.

He acknowledges that the decision is part of a national closure programme which will see 164 branches close across the UK, with the loss of 900 jobs.

And he will ask councillors to back the motion statement that: “East Lothian Council believes that this is a short-sighted decision that does not take into

account that East Lothian is the second-fastest growing area in Scotland.”

The motion, which is seconded by Councillor Lachlan Bruce, opposition leader, calls on the council’s chief executive to write to the chief executive of TSB to express disappointment at the decision.

It also calls on her to write to the chief executives of all the major

banks with branches in East Lothian to request information as to the future of those branches and highlight the importance of branches being kept open and available to communities.

It adds: “East Lothian Council knows that banks offer vital services and that, for many of our most vulnerable citizens, the ability to use those services is harmed when they are unable to access a physical building due to branch closure.”