Several residents using a bank in a Sutherland village are still unaware that its opening hours have been slashed, it has been claimed.
The Bank of Scotland’s Bonar Bridge branch is now closed completely on Fridays, leaving only a Tuesday service, from 10am-3pm.
However, it is believed that letters sent out to some customers months ago notifying them of the changes only contained details of a scheduled cut in hours at the Dornoch branch, which came into force at the same time.
Bank of Scotland said customers will not have received a letter if they opened their account in Dornoch and have used the Bonar Bridge service less than three times in the last six months.
They also pointed out that since August, a notice has been on the window of the Bonar Bridge bank advising customers of the reduced hours.
The apparent mix-up happened during the second week of the changed hours. It follows concerns raised by local campaigners and politicians that the community was not properly consulted on the closures.
Campaigner Michael Baird, who shares a front door with the bank, said he met seven people on Friday who had turned up looking to use the banking facilities.
He added: “Letters have been sent to customers of the Bonar Bridge branch stating only that the hours of the Dornoch branch will be changing on December 7. They were linking
Bonar Bridge customers because they may operate through Dornoch and that’s where they may have opened their account. Some people have said they never got a letter at all.
“The bank has never followed the recommendation by Rhoda Grant and spoken to their customers and allowed them to say what they think about it all.
“They have just not been fair to customers and have not properly told them what’s going on in Bonar Bridge. It’s pretty lousy and they are not treating customers well at all.”
A Bank of Scotland spokesman said: “Customers have been sent letters in relation to the branch at which their account was originally opened. However, if a customer’s account is held at Dornoch, but they live in Bonar Bridge and have made regular transactions at that branch – at least three in the last six months – they should have received a letter in relation to the Bonar Bridge changes.”