‘It will affect all of us’: how bank closures have hit one UK town

Tony Bird of Birds Traditional Butchers in Sandbach, Cheshire, where NatWest is closing the last bank in the town in February. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

“I’ve been with them since I left school. I’m really sad it’s going – where do we go now?”

An older couple who have lived in the Cheshire market town of Sandbach their whole lives are talking about how the imminent loss of its last bank will affect those who struggle to use online banking services, as well as the town’s shops, cafes and businesses.