A permanent banking hub will be established in Barnard Castle “in a matter of months”, ending strong rumours to the contrary.
It had been understood that the current temporary hub in The Witham was established on a trial basis before a decision would be made on its long-term future.
However, the Teesdale Banking Hub working party has confirmed that a hub will have a permanent home sooner rather than later. And once that new location is open for business, the town and its neighbouring communities will have access to its 24-hour cash machine.
The Banking Hub, which was set up by Cash Access UK and is operated by the Post Office, opened for business on April 8.
Barnard Castle’s county councillor Chris Foote-Wood is a member of the working party that has been campaigning for a hub along with upper Teesdale county councillor Richard Bell and Ted Henderson, a parish councillor for Eggleston.
Cllr Foote-Wood said: “We have been reassured that the permanent hub will definitely go ahead in a matter of months.
“Jordan Reece of Cash Access UK has confirmed that a permanent banking hub will be coming to the town regardless of usage of the temporary one.”
The news ends weeks of speculation that the hub had been set up on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis.
Based on the first floor of The Witham and accessed via the café at the rear of the building, there have been anecdotal reports of teething problems since it opened with confusion about the services it does and doesn’t offer.
But there’s no doubt it offers a potentially vital service to residents of Teesdale that don’t have access to a high street bank.
Cllr Bell said: “We need full banking services with face-to-face personal service for those many locals who either can’t, or don’t want to bank via the internet.
The permanent hub will have staff from (up to) five banks on duty one day a week, far better than just one bank.”
Cllr Henderson added: “Until we have a permanent hub we won’t get the outside 24-hour cash machine the area desperately needs.”
A spokesman for Cash Access UK confirmed that a round-the-clock cash machine will be a feature of the banking hub when it moves to a permanent home.
“The temporary hub will remain in place until the permanent location is open for business,” she said.
“In the meantime, we are working hard to secure a permanent home for the banking hub in Barnard Castle, which will include a free-to-use ATM.
“Finding a suitable location that is convenient, accessible and works for everyone can take up to 12 months.
“Residents can stay up to date with our progress through our website: cashaccess.co.uk.”
It has also been confirmed that Lloyds is the fourth bank to commit to the hub and will have a representative on hand to serve its account holders on Fridays.
Lloyds follows Barclays (Mondays), NatWest (Wednesdays) and HSBC (Thursday) in committing to the hub.
