Almost 400 people have signed a petition urging Yorkshire Building Society to reverse its decision to close the Meltham branch.

The Bradford-based mutual plans to close the branch in Huddersfield Road in March next year as part of a programme to axe 13 branches in areas where it had a high concentration of outlets and open 50 agency offices in new locations across the country.

It said members using the Meltham branch would be able to use branches in Honley, Holmfirth, Slaithwaite or Huddersfield.

In a letter to Kirklees councillor Charles Greaves giving notice of the plan, society chief executive Mike Regnier said: “Face to face services have always and will continue to play an important part of our offering to customers, but we must continue to evolve if we are to remain relevant and sustainable.”

Yorkshire Building Society on Huddersfield Road, Meltham.

Now Meltham town councillor Pamela Murgatroyd has written to Mr Regnier appealing for the closure decision to be reversed.

In the letter, she asked why the Meltham branch was closing when there was no other bank in the town and when it had an older than average population who were less able to get to other branches and less likely to use online banking.

She said: “Meltham is a small town with a population of 8,500 to 9,000, mostly elderly people, many with disabilities, not able to drive and finding it difficult to travel by public transport.

“Several years ago, Lloyds Bank closed down, which left the YBS as our main source of banking. We have an outside ATM in the centre of the town which doubles as a telephone kiosk.

In happier times... Simon Wallace of Dementia Action Alliance with Yorkshire Building Society customer representative Gail Edwards, Lloyd Latibeaudiere, of the society's head office and Meltham branch manager Hannah Bell at Yorkshire Building Society, Huddersfield Road, Meltham.

“We are being told that our nearest branches are only three-plus miles away at Honley, Holmfirth or Slaithwaite, all very difficult places to park if driving in. Both Holmfirth and Slaithwaite also have banks.

“The bus services to any of these is every hour, so if you get the bus there, carry out your transaction and then the bus back, it could be a three-hour trip to do what can, at present, be done in 30 minutes.”

She said YBS had argued that 37% of Meltham customers used online banking, but countered: “Then 63% do not. You cannot pay cash into online banking; you cannot draw cash out of online banking; many Melthamers have their pensions paid into their YBS accounts. How are they to access without travelling?”

She said: “If people cannot travel to or get what they need from another YBS branch, they will not stay with the YBS. They could go to a bank where they can do transactions through the local Post Office, eg Co-op Bank. What incentive would there be for them to stay with YBS after being deserted by them in Meltham.”

A YBS spokesperson said: “We understand that this announcement is disappointing, but it is not one we have made lightly. It is about making sure we deliver greater efficiency and improved value to our 3.2m members.

“The plans we have set out reflect our response to our customers’ changing needs and the way they choose to use our services. We have areas where we have a high concentration of branches and some where we have members but do not have a branch presence. Our proposals are therefore based on ensuring our high street network is more evenly spread of across the UK.

“This will enable us to reach more customers by expanding our high street network into 50 towns and cities where we have customer demand but no presence. Face-to-face service will continue to play an important part of our offering to our members.

“If the proposals go ahead, we will continue to have five branches in the Huddersfield area – Holmfirth, Honley, Slaithwaite, Lindley and Huddersfield – which are all within six miles of Meltham.

“Our members will also be able to use our online and telephone services. Our data shows that 61% of Meltham customers use other branches, while 37% use online or telephone services.”