Burntwood councillor brands Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant “naive” over town’s bank closure

A Burntwood councillor has branded the area’s MP “naive” over the closure of a local bank.

The Barclays branch in Burntwood. Pic: Google Streetview

Barclays will close its branch at Sankey’s Corner on June 8. It follows the decision to axe the HSBC bank opposite last year.

Michael Fabricant

Conservative MP Michael Fabricant said he understood local disappointment in the news, but said changes to the way people managed their money made some branch closures inevitable.

Cllr Eric Drinkwater

But Cllr Eric Drinkwater accused the MP of neglecting the needs of his constituents in Burntwood.

“I cannot believe the naivety of the man,” the Labour councillor said. “He has obviously just taken the word of Barclays – everyone knows that whatever day of the week you go past Sankey’s Corner the bank is crammed full of customers.

“In respect of his comments on the Post Office, we were told the same when HSBC closed. Once again Mr Fabricant has shown his lack of interest in Burntwood as part of his constituency, but if he was interested he would not point people to the Post Office as an alternative because he would know that it is up for sale and there is a planning application for a change of use to a dental practice.

“If his Government had not privatised everything they can see then we would not be in this predicament with what used to be our Post Offices.”

But Mr Fabricant said he was aware of the issues raised by Cllr Drinkwater.

“I am aware that the Post Office will be moving to other premises and they will take up much of the slack,” he said.

“If any constituent experiences problems resulting from the closure and they can’t resolve it with Barclays, they should make contact with me and I will be pleased to help.

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