It's true, you could use the Post Office for some basic banking, but it isn't the same as having a bank branch in Forest Hill. It's a bit rubbish that Santander and Barclay'ss are going in quick succession. I wasn't in the area when the earlier campaign to retain Barclay's happened, though I suspect the bank would now argue that things have changed, more business being done online, less in branches etc.

Depending on where in SE23 you live and what your transport links are (and bearing in mind the closure of Crofton Park branch as well), that could leave you with the most accessible banks being in East Dulwich, Sydenham, Catford, Lewisham or possibly Peckham. None of them especially convenient. And I wouldn't hold out much hope for some of those branches being around in a couple of years' time.

It's tough on people who don't have access to internet banking or for whom it is stressful in a way that personal banking is not. And when you do go to a branch in person, the waiting times are longer and the experience more miserable than in the past. I never went to the bank to be cheered up but neither did I expect the experience to be made purposefully dismal. But even dismal would be better than non-existent. It makes me begrudge all the tax-payer funded bailouts and excess profits and dividends even more.