Plans to close bank branches in Sutton and Hucknall met with "dismay" and "disappointment"

And they are now calling for Barclays to scrap its proposals to shut the Sutton branch on May 29 , and the Hucknall branch on June 5.

Councillor David Hennigan, Sutton Central and New Cross ward councillor, said he welcomed the fact that other banks were delaying closures and called on Barclays to do the same to “protect employees and help customers.”

He said: “When we go into the recovery phase of the COVID lockdown it’s critical that small businesses meet with bank staff to discuss help available.”

Councillor Samantha Deakin of the ward, added: “The closure of Barclays is devastating for Sutton town centre. It’s short-sighted when you consider the town’s hugely ambitious plans.

“Businesses and the most vulnerable residents have spoken of the impact. I would hope that they would at least pause their plans to assist the coronavirus recovery.”

Hucknall north ward Councillor John Wilmott said it was: “Very, very disappointing.

“They say there are other ways to do banking at post offices or online,you can only do limited things at the post office and not everybody has a computer. It’s a blow for people, especially the elderly, and disabled. We’ll fight this.”

Adrian Davies, Market Director for Barclay said staff would be offered roles at other branches.

He said: “We are committed to helping customers and doing our best to keep branches open as long as we can during the pandemic, while it is practical and safe. However COVID-19 has had an impact on our customer behaviours, we are seeing significantly less branch visits.

“Our Sutton in Ashfield team has been calling vulnerable and branch dependent customers to ensure they are supported. The rate of these calls has increased since April 3.

“Before the Coronavirus, we were already seeing 84% of our regular customers using alternatives to branch based banking, and anticipate this figure is significantly higher. We do not anticipate changing the closure date at Sutton.

“At Barclays Hucknall, customer usage has continued to fall and 84% of customers use telephone and online banking, which is why we have taken this difficult decision.”