Thame Town Council’s appeal for a banking hub in the town has been rejected and upheld following an independent assessment.

Following the closure of the Lloyds branch on Thame High Street in February of this year, the town is left without a conventional bank.

Fearing elderly residents and people in the town were losing access to cash and much-needed banking services, the town council applied for the installation of a banking hub.

Set up by not for profit organisation, Cash Access, banking hubs allow residents to access services from a number of different banks from the same building. Thame Town Council applied for a hub by contacting LINK, the body which assesses towns’ available cash services.

However, the financial body concluded that the market town of over 10,000 had enough ATMs, plus a post office and Nationwide Building Society town centre branch, which residents could use.

To assist residents an Automated Deposit Solution (ADS) machine for cash deposits and withdrawals, which can only be used to deposit notes, was installed in the town. LINK says it will check that the ATM providers have taken all possible actions to ensure the ATMs remain stocked, especially on high cash demand days.

A subsequent appeal from the town council argued that the post office is often busy and Thame’s town centre cash points often have no money in them, especially on market days.

A review overseen by an independent assessor sided with LINK, stating the company had made ‘no errors’ in its analysis of Thame’s banking situation.

A spokesperson for LINK told The Bucks Herald: "We carry out assessments when a bank branch closes or if people in the local community ask us to, and we publish the outcome of our assessment and any recommendations we make for new cash access services. With a Nationwide branch and a Post Office, we are satisfied that Thame continues to have good access to cash."

Thame Town Council has revealed that it will focus on upgrading the town’s existing facilities following the assessment. This includes: improving the Post Office service to ease queueing, ensuring cash is always available via ATMs, and getting the ADS machine, currently outside Boots on the High Street, relocated inside a convenient host building for enhanced security and privacy.

Thame Town Council says it will hold, the organisations responsible for the delivery of cash access, to account.

Thame Mayor Andy Gilbert said: “Bank branches are closing at a rate of knots in the UK: one in three have closed in the past five years and the UK has one of the highest rates of bank closures in Europe.

"Since our last bank closed here in Thame, and aside from the post office, the only other branch option for bank users requiring notes and coins and willing to switch accounts is the Nationwide Building Society, which has premises on the High Street. However, it doesn’t serve businesses or charities, which are not well provided for within the LINK criteria.”

Thame Town Council has accused LINK of using ‘narrow’ and ‘inflexible’ data to assess towns’ banking applications.