Police were called after protesters descended on a town’s last bank to campaign against its planned closure.
At the end of January it was revealed that the Bank of Scotland (BoS) branch in Barrhead will shuts its doors on May 21 with its cash machine also set to disappear.
A crowd of 35 to 40 people voiced their discontent outside the premises at 112 Main Street on Friday.
Three, including campaign leader Sean Clerkin, staged a sit in within the premises for around half an hour, echoing the cries of those outside of “Save our Bank”.
Barrhead resident Sean said: “The point we were trying to make is it’s community need over corporate greed and it’s about saving the Barrhead community.
“Taking the bank out is going to destroy the community because some businesses are already articulating they may not continue.
“More importantly, the elderly and disabled people need face-to-face banking because to them internet banking and banking apps are a foreign country.
“The BoS has profited from decades of being in the community of Barrhead and the bottom line is they should be maintaining the branch in Barrhead given it is the last bank serving the community and the surrounding community as well.
“People come up from Pollok to use the bank and people from Glenburn in Paisley, Uplawmoor and Neilston use it as well.”
The arrival of police on Friday prompted the end of the protest and occupation as they asked the protesters to leave and bank staff shut the branch.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 1pm on Friday, February 28, 2025, we were made aware of a group gathered in the Main Street area of Barrhead.
“Officers attended and the group later dispersed. No criminality was established.”
The Save the Barrhead Bank campaign was launched last month by Clerkin and BoS customers, including one woman who has been banking with the branch since the 1970s.
Clerkin said those involved with the campaign are “reasonable” and “open to compromise” and would be willing to sit down with the bank to discuss the establishment of a community banking hub.
This he said would allow different banks to have a presence in the town for a day or two each week.
“The next stage of our campaign, even though we are open to compromise, is to issue leaflets early next week, around the bank and town centre to ask people to boycott the BoS, to take their money out, vote with their feet, go elsewhere, and show their disgust at the way Barrhead has been treated,” added Clerkin.
The campaign is also seeking a meeting with Renfrewshire South MSP Tom Arthur to see if they can work together to try and save the bank or establish a community banking hub in the town.
Mr Arthur is one of several politicians who have spoken out against the closure.
MP Blair McDougall and MSP Paul O’Kane met directly with officials from Lloyds Group, who own Bank of Scotland, on Monday to raise the concerns of the local community and push for reconsideration of the decision to close the Main Street bank.
In the meeting, the pair highlighted their dissatisfaction with the impact assessment by LINK (the UK’s cash access and ATM network) of the branch closure and the pressing concerns of elderly Barrhead residents.
The politicians, however, described the meeting as “disappointing” due to Lloyds’ continued intention to move forward with the closure.
The pair vowed to continue their search for a solution to Barrhead’s bank crisis.
Following the closure, the nearest branch will be located nearly five miles away at 244 Ayr Road in Newton Mearns.
The bank in Barrhead one of 136 high street branches being shut by Lloyds Banking Group as it accelerates plans to cut costs and digitise the bank.
BoS said the decision on the Barrhead bank had been made after looking at how customers manage their money and use the branch.
Further explaining the decision, they said 84% of their personal customers already use other ways of banking, such as app, internet or phone banking, as well as other branches.
A Bank of Scotland spokesperson: “As many customers now choose to bank through their app or online, visits to our Barrhead branch have fallen over recent years.
"When the branch closes in May, customers can continue to manage their money online, by calling us, in person at Newton Mearns branch, or the local Post Office on Cross Arthurlie Street.”
