LLOYDS Bank recently announced further bank branch closures across the country.

They are set to shut a total of 136 branches in the next year.

This follows a continuing trend from banks of closing down high street branches as more and more customers move to online banking. In November Lloyds closed their branch on Crediton High Street, which had been the last remaining bank branch still open in the town.

I am very conscious that bank branch closures can have a disproportionate impact in more rural parts of the country like ours.

Rural branches tend to be less busy than those in urban centres, meaning banks are more likely to want to shut them down.

But rural areas often also have less reliable internet connections than in the city.

There also tends to be a greater proportion of people who are elderly and do not use online or mobile banking as easily as younger generations do.

And public transport links can be lacking, meaning residents may struggle to get access to an alternative bank branch if their local one closes down.

At the same time, banks need to adapt their business models so they can remain competitive and offer the best possible value to us as customers.

We have to find solutions which can deliver the essential services people need while allowing banks to make commercial decisions.

That is why I have championed banking hubs in our local communities, including having officially opened the Ashburton “Hub and Spoke” initiative at Ashburton Post Office.

The “hub” is the Post Office, which has a dedicated area where representatives from major banks visit one day a week.

The building also hosts the local library and the normal Post Office service.

The “spoke” is the old Post Office van which can take services to isolated people and communities in Dartmoor or bring them into Ashburton to use the banking hub.

The Postmaster, Stuart Rogers, has driven this innovative local project which is making a huge difference for those who still need to use physical banking services.

There are now more than 100 banking hubs across the country, and that number is set to keep rising in the coming years.

These hubs are crucial where there are no dedicated local bank branches, allowing local people to get cash out, deposit cheques and access face to face banking services.

This was also an issue I took up when I chaired the Treasury Select Committee in the previous parliament.

I pressed the heads of all the major high street banks to set out their approach to bank branch closures, including how many of their branches were the last bank branch left open in a town, and how they were supporting customers to continue to access essential services.

People need to be able to use the bank to go about their lives, wherever they live.

I will always fight for our communities to have access to those vital services.

Mel Stride, the MP for Central Devon