THE Clydesdale Bank's cashpoint will be axed alongside the branch in August - as bank chiefs admitted that footfall has NOT gone down at the Largs branch.

Councillor Tom Marshall met up with Bryce Herbert, the Clydesdale's area manager, and questioned him over the controversial closure decision that has sparked anger among locals.

Cllr. Marshall says the bank boss admitted that cost-cutting was behind the call and feels the reasoning has still to be properly justified.

He said: "I had a good discussion with Mr Herbert and I raised the footfall figures.

"They say they don't have them, but ge did admit that footfall hasn't dropped off in the Largs branch at all.

"What has fallen away to some extent is the value of transactions.

"I went to North Ayrshire Council, who measure the footfall figures for Largs town centre, and in the last couple of years there has been 1.2m people annually who pass through the town centre."

Staff have been shocked by the closure, which means the nearest branches for Clydesdale customers will be Greenock or Irvine.

Cllr. Marshall added: "The bank did admit that the lease of the bank premises is up next year so I think that might have been a driving factor.

"They obviously are looking at saving money and they did say that Largs was in the bottom 25 per cent of branches when it came to these transaction value figures.

"I personally don't think they have satisfactorily justified the reason."

However the bad news is that the Clydesdale aren't looking to make a U-turn on the decision, and the bank looks set to close around August.

Cllr. Marshall said: "It was clear from Mr Herbert that the bank was not going to be changing its mind.

"Extra assistance is going to be given to customers to help move them onto digital platforms

"One of the other aspects raised by the Clydesdale was that you can do some of your banking at the post office - but you don't know how long the post office will stay open either."

Cllr Marshall also said that the Clydesdale Bank will be taking away their ATM when the Largs branch closes.

The move comes after local businesses reported that all the ATMs in Largs town centre ran out of cash during Easter Monday after a busy sunshine holiday weekend in the town.

Cllr. Marshall further commented: "There are quite a few other free ATMs around the town, that was the Clydesdale's reasoning. It was clear that they were not going to make any concessions."

A spokesperson for Clydesdale Bank said: “Closing a branch is never an easy decision and a number of factors are taking into consideration when reviewing the network.

"In Largs, transactions are down 40 per cent in the last four years, while digital adoption rates have increased significantly. Mobile usage has increased locally by 27.2 per cent in last nine months as customers are choosing to bank with us if a different way.”