A day or two ago I went to ­conduct some business with the Lloyds Bank branch in Dartmouth, only to find it had gone. I was rather taken aback, but not because the closure was unexpected – I read in the Chronicle some time ago that the branch was to go.

I had expected, however, as a customer, to have received some notification from the

bank of the date of closure and details of alternative arrangements. But there has been ­nothing.

I rang Lloyds and managed to navigate through the five checkpoints in the national call centre to a man with a Scottish accent. He was unable to give me information about the ­closure, but said the nearest continuing branch was at Brixham.

I asked about the mobile vehicular arrangement that I had read about in the Chronicle; he said he had no information about that, but he knew of one in the Highlands and Islands. I see from last week’s issue that there is what at first sight appears to be a horse box appearing twice a week in the main car park.

I feel badly treated by Lloyds, particularly as a ­customer of 60-plus years. In my view it has fallen well below the minimum acceptable levels of business courtesy and I am determined to transfer my accounts to another bank.

Cynics will say that there is no such thing today as recognition of loyalty and a new bank will be no better. Perhaps so – but it can certainly be no worse.

Apart from the modicum of retributive pleasure in making a transfer, there is a much more serious reason for my changing. Perhaps the closure of the many branches and the bank’s ineptitude in informing its ­customers is indicative of a serious malaise within Lloyds. Perhaps the rot from HBOS has spread into the host bank. Perhaps this is the time to jump ship.

Brian Parker,

Crossparks

Dartmouth