A mobile banking service will stop visiting a rural village due to 'significant' reduced usage.

The Lloyds mobile banking service will stop visiting Bellingham from May 2024.

The news comes as the latest in a line of bank service cuts in Tynedale, following the announcement the last Barclays branch in Tynedale, located in Hexham, will close in March.

Haltwhistle and Prudhoe's Barclays branches closed in August 2023. Barclays plan to open a Barclays Local in Hexham, which is a cashless banking site where customers can meet a colleague face-to-face for banking support, as they would in a branch and without the need to travel.

Figures from Lloyds Bank reveal that 63 per cent of its customers already use other ways of banking, including mobile, internet or phone banking, as well as other branches.

Bellingham's Post Office offers personal and business customers everyday banking services, access to cash, paying in of cheques, and more.

A Lloyds Bank spokesperson said: “As many customers now choose to bank online or through their mobile app, visits to our mobile bank branches have fallen significantly over recent years. The local Post Office in Bellingham offer everyday banking, with cash also available at close by free-to-use ATMs, alongside other ways to bank such as online, phone and mobile banking services.”

Customers can use any Lloyds Bank branch for their banking, alongside other options including the Post Office, ATMS, online, mobile and telephone banking.

In the run-up to the closure in Bellingham, mobile bank branch staff will offer support and guidance on how customers can bank with Lloyds Bank.

After the mobile bank stops visiting, a community banker will visit the area and will continue to offer face-to-face targeted support for as long as the community needs it. 

Lloyds Bank representatives will discuss with local communities which locations would be appropriate for its community banker to set up in, and on which days.

Lloyds Bank had a permanent bank in Bellingham which closed in 2017, two years after the closure of Bellingham's Barclays branch.