My survey of bank closures suggests a new purpose for the tarnished Co-op

Many thanks to the stampede of readers who sent news of bank branch closures. There’s certainly a national pattern, and possibly an epidemic, with HSBC, NatWest, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank closing outlets as fast as they can, and only the Nationwide building society making a virtue of offering an undiminished service. Counter staff still in post are praised for their kindness, particularly to readers’ elderly mothers, but sham ‘consultations’ on closures that are faits accomplis are a frequent cause of irritation.

It’s clear that many towns will soon be left with no more than a single ATM plus, if they’re lucky, a post-office counter — making life particularly tough for small businesses. A reader in New York quotes Paul Theroux, in Deep South, on the ‘bank deserts’ that leave rural Mississippi and Arkansas beyond hope of economic revival: is that what will happen here?

Or should we just get over it? I’m grateful to the respondent who reports ‘numerous branches within easy reach though personally, I don’t need them’ and ‘no facile busybody “community” to bother me either’.