COTSWOLDS MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown has given his backing to Fairford residents as they fight to keep their last remaining High Street bank from closing.

In July, Lloyds Bank announced its controversial plans to close the town’s branch on November 7, citing a drop in usage by customers.

Following a number of emails from residents to Mr Clifton-Brown, the longstanding MP has contacted the banking group, highlighting his constituents’ concerns.

A spokesman for Mr Clifton-Brown said: “Geoffrey sent an email to Lloyds transmitting the specific concerns of his constituents regarding the closure of the Fairford branch.”

David Taylor was one such resident who had contacted his MP as well as Lloyds, claiming the bank did not abide by the correct protocol during its decision making process.

Speaking to the Standard earlier in the month, he said he did not feel that the bank had abided by ‘Industry Protocol on Bank Closures’ and ‘Access to Banking Protocol’.

Mr Taylor, 63, who has a background in banking, said the protocol states that a bank should “undertake an internal analysis to understand the potential impact on branch users and the availability and suitability of alternative ways to bank” as well as undertaking a ‘community engagement’.

In response, a spokesman for the banking group said: “We have conducted a full pre-closure impact assessment and before the branch closes we will publish a summary of this, which includes a summary of our community engagement.”

However, Mr Taylor argued that the bank should have made the full assessment available to the public before the announcement.

He said: “It’s all a question of time.

“Why can’t they send out the impact assessment now? If they have conformed to the proper protocol, then surely they have it to send out.

“They appear to be leaving it to the last minute to prevent people having time to respond to it.

“The problem is it’s a voluntary protocol and there is no way of governing it.”

Lloyds did not wish to comment any further on the matter.