Residents in a beloved coastal town in north Northumberland are facing a round trip of more than 40 miles after plans were unveiled to close the area's last remaining bank.
Barclays has announced it will close its branch in Seahouses - along with another nearby branch in Alnwick.
It means residents and businesses will have to travel to Berwick if they need to use any of the bank's facilities - a distance of more than 22 miles.
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The next nearest branch is in Cramlington - almost 45 miles away. The area's ward councillor, Coun Guy Renner-Thompson, said it was a huge blow for the area.
He said: "This is devastating news for us. Barclays is the last branch in the area - there's no other banks in that whole costal strip - no others in Seahouses, Belford, or even Wooler.
"It's the last rural bank in north Northumberland. It's a massive blow to the local community. If it was just Seahouses it wouldn't be so bad, but it is Alnwick as well."
Coun Renner-Thompson, who is the Conservative councillor for the Bamburgh ward, explained why the branch continued to be important for the tourist hub, and urged residents to make their feelings known.
He continued: "A lot of the businesses in the village get a lot of cash in through the summer, they need somewhere to put that in. We also have an elderly population and many people don't use online banking.
"There is nothing the council can do - Barclays is a private business - but I think people need to vote with their feet and their money. The bank is a vital lifeline for people in this rural area and we must make our feelings heard by Barclays."
Coun Renner-Thompson did point out that the village's post office would remain open and provide services such as pension withdrawals.
Seahouses and Alnwick are among 15 Barclays branches across the UK to be closing down as part of the latest announcement, while an additional 69 had already been earmarked for closure earlier this year.
Barclays said those who need face-to-face support can visit one of its 200 pop-up sites across the UK. Barclays also has ten "banking pods" which are semi-permanent sites that can be moved to different towns and locations based on demand.
A Barclays spokesman said: “As visits to branches continue to fall, we need to adapt to provide the best service for all our customers. Where there is no longer enough demand to support a branch, we maintain an in-person presence through our Barclays Local network, live in over 200 locations, based in libraries, town halls, mobile vans and our new banking pods."
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