BLAENAVON Town Council is to close its HSBC bank account in protest at the company’s decision to shut the last remaining bank in the town.

Instead, the council will open an account with the Cooperative Bank.

Mayor of Blaenavon Cllr Gareth Davies said: “As a council, we felt it entirely appropriate to seek a new bank in response to HSBC withdrawing services from the people and traders of Blaenavon.

“As a council, we protested vigorously the decision to close the Blaenavon branch and a unanimous vote at council led to a move to the Co-operative Bank, the Co-op having strong ethical principles informing this decision.”

The May closure of the HSBC bank caused uproar in the town as it was Blaenavon’s last bank.

A public meeting was held by town councillors and attended by local residents and businesses, who relied on the bank to withdraw money and bank their takings.

Torfaen MP Paul Murphy and AM Lynne Neagle warned the banking giant not to cut and run and a petition of more than 1,000 signatures opposing the closure was collected.

But all their effort was to no avail, as the branch closed its doors on May 11.

The bank said it could not find a commercially viable route to justify keeping the branch open.

The residents were given assurance that the cash point would remain in the town.

However, there have been problems with this in the months since the bank left town. Residents say they have encountered issues such as the machine being out of order for up to four days at a time This means that people are having to travel to Abergavenny or Pontypool to make a cash withdrawal.

HSBC would not comment on individuals choosing to move their account to another bank.