The Yorkshire Post Says: 10 years after financial crash, banks repay us for bailing them out by closing branches

No one advising Alistair Darling, the then Chancellor, thought wages would stagnate for so long – and no one thought the UK banking sector would require such a costly bailout by the public purse.

Fast forward a decade and how do the banks repay the country? By not only closing down local branches in worrying numbers but dismantling ATM machines 40 years after the advent of cash machines in the UK.

Not only does this publicly subsidised industry not appear to realise its wider obligations to society, but its actions will only encourage the elderly – those most suspicious of online banking and the risk of cyber-crime – to stockpile money at home and become easy prey for burglars and the unscrupulous. If the banks are not prepared to get their house in order, and represent all consumers, the Government will have to intervene on behalf of all those who do still value the pound in their pocket.