A WHITCHURCH bank is due to reopen in February after it closed last year due to flooding.

The TSB branch in Watergate closed temporarily in December after a burst pipe led to flooding.

Since then, the bank has used the Civic Centre in High Street to help with enquiries, while cash points have been available in the town. 

The nearest branches are in Wrexham and Nantwich.

Whitchurch Town Council said it welcomed the news that the branch would be reopening.

Town clerk, Mike McDonald, said: "It is very welcome for everyone concerned and we are pleased that their flooding issue has been resolved.

"It has been a pleasure to allow them to use the Civic Centre as a base whilst the work has been completed, so that customers have managed to keep some services in the interim.

"We are grateful that they continue to be one of the only banks to maintain a presence in Whitchurch now, which means a lot to residents, especially those who are unable to travel.

"That is why we were keen to offer our support after the flooding incident."

In 2022, 70 branches closed and the bank intends to close another nine in 2023, but Whitchurch has managed to avoid losing its branch.

The decisions over whether to keep or close branches has been based on the needs of customers.

A spokesperson said: "We need to make sure our branches meet the current and future needs of our customers.

"But we remain committed to face-to-face services through a branch network that covers the whole country.

"Over 90 per cent of our customers are within a 20 minute drive to their closest branch or the location of a mobile money confidence expert at our pop-ups or banking hubs.

"We’re also opening new pods in locations across the UK."

The spokesperson added: "The way customers bank with us is changing with over 90 per cent of transactions now being made digitally.

"Over 2.2 million of our customers now choose to bank online, and over 1.8 million use our mobile banking app.

"Customers are also choosing other ways to bank with us, with 70 per cent using services at our cash and self-serve machines and 28 per cent using a post office.

"We have had over two million conversations with our customers through our online chat service and customers continue to use our video and telephone banking services.

"We now also have mobile money confidence experts available across the country."