DRUMCHAPEL and Anniesland politicians have voiced their opposition to the latest closure of a vital service for the area.

The Royal Bank of Scotland announced their branch at Anniesland Cross would close in October, one of five across Glasgow and adding to the loss of the Post Office in Drumchapel and JobCentre in Anniesland Cross in recent months.

Bill Kidd MSP and Carol Monaghan MP called for RBS to rethink the decision, pointing to the older demographic in the area and a lack of direct link to the nearest branch and questions about the future of staff.

RBS said transactions at the Anniesland Cross branch fell by 19 per cent since 2011 while mobile and online transactions across RBS went up by 300 per cent.

In 2016, the Maryhill branch closed, directing customers to Anniesland and now to Byres Road, 1.66 miles away.

In the joint statement, the MP and MSP said: "Today we have written individually to Ross McEwan, the CEO of RBS, stating that we are both very concerned by the announcement RBS are to close their Glasgow Anniesland Cross branch on October 10, 2017, and would urge RBS to rethink this statement.

"Combined with the recent JobCentre closure announcement at Anniesland Cross and the proposed Post Office closure in Drumchapel, this is another heavy blow for our constituents.

"The loss of which would have a detrimental impact on local residents in Anniesland, Knightswood and Jordanhill, many of whom are elderly, who will now have no direct access to the nearest branch which is on Byres Road – 1.66 miles away – a not un-considerable distance to travel for many RBS customers who rely on this vital local service.

"We are also particularly concerned by potential job losses, as there is as yet no mention of whether or not these hard-working staff will be retained and moved to other branches.

"Whilst we understand that the shift towards online and mobile banking has affected the number of in-store transactions in recent years there still has to be access to over the counter services within existing communities particularly one so heavily populated with older residents."

A spokesman for RBS said 176 staff would be affected across 30 branch closures in Scotland but most would be redeployed.

He said: "We are communicating with our customers affected by the closure and proactively contacting vulnerable and regular branch customers.

"We have listened closely to feedback from local communities and have extended the time between announcing our decision and the branch closure to six months. This has been done in order to ensure our customers have time to consider the right banking options for them.

"We know that not all of our customers are comfortable and familiar with using online or mobile banking, so we have created a new specialist taskforce of digital experts who will be dedicated to supporting our customers with training and support with digital skills."