THE former Clydesdale Bank building in Largs has been labelled a 'dreadful eyesore' amid claims it is driving people away from a prime part of the town centre.

MP Patricia Gibson, who is the SNP Consumer Affairs spokesperson in Westminster, said someone need done to revamp the fabric of the building, which has fallen into a state of disrepair after it was closed.

She also hitting out at the situation regarding a lack of ATMs in the town after the bank also removed their hole-in-the-wall facility.

More and more ATM machines, particular out-of-town facilities in Largs, now charge for withdrawals, leaving many people unable to access their own money for free.

There were 52,000 free cash machines in the UK at the start of the year and 1,700 of these began charging from January to March alone, from 50p to £1.99 per withdrawal.

Mrs Gibson said: “This will come as a shock, not just to retailers, shop owners and their customers across the country but to the poorest, rural and island communities which rely the most on free cash access.

“Customers have a triple-whammy; with fewer and fewer high street banks and ATMs closing at a rate of over a hundred a month, while those that remain are now more likely to charge.

“It is in rural and island Scotland that we have seen the biggest reduction in cash machines.

"Only a few weeks ago the Clydesdale Bank closed its Largs branch and its ATM machine too.

"The firm have left their prominent former bank building, in its prime location, in a dreadful state.

“Applying a charge for ATM withdrawals creates a barrier and another disincentive to stop and shop locally.

“I will press UK Ministers to ensure people across the country still have access to cash.”

The fees, which fund the free-to-use ATM network, have reduced over the last two years from 25p to 20p per withdrawal.

Chief executive Peter McNamara blamed UK Government cuts to the LINK interchange fee.

He said: “This is not a decision we wanted to make, but after two and a half years of warning government about the consequences of LINK interchange fee cuts, the decision to convert 3,000 of our ATMs is now unavoidable.

ATM machine operator Cardtronics said it will convert another 1,000 of its ATMs as it "had been forced into charging a fee for cash withdrawals on some of our machines where LINK's cuts have left us with no choice."