West Dorset MP Chris Loder has launched a campaign against HSBC after it announced it was closing its branches in Bridport and Dorchester, urging its customers to move to banks which "have more care for rural customers".

It was announced in November that Bridport's East Street branch of HSBC would close in May 2023, and Dorchester's Cornhill branch would follow in August.

Mr Loder said: "This news suggests a total abdication of service from HSBC to their rural customer base, many of which have no wish to bank digitally.

"Many constituents I have spoken to believe in-person, cash-based banking is the most secure and the most user-friendly method of banking."

The MP's motives for such an intervention stem from his concern over the wellbeing of two of West Dorset's main market towns.

He added: "Bridport and Dorchester are both market towns, with the market playing an intrinsic part of these towns' culture and economy. Cash underpins all of this, and HSBC making this even harder for customers is not going to incentivise growth in town centres.

"I would urge local bank customers to support our local high streets and markets by taking custom and away from banks that are disinterested in the wellbeing of our communities and support those banks that are committed to a future in our town centres."

Jackie Uhi is HSBC UK's managing director of UK distribution. She said: "People are changing the way they bank and footfall in many branches is at an all-time low, with no signs of it returning. Banking remotely is becoming the norm for the vast majority of us.

"The decision to close a branch is never easy or taken lightly, especially if we are the last branch in an area, so we've invested heavily in our 'post-closure' strategy, including providing free tablet devices to selected branch customers who do not already have a device to bank digitally, alongside one-to-one coaching to help them migrate to digital banking."

The bank said the closures are due to fewer people using physical branches to do their banking.