A new banking hub should be up and running by the summer in a town left with no surviving bank branches, an MP says.

The banking hub will be set up in Westhoughton by August this year and will follow on from a similar facility set up recently on Lee Lane in Horwich.

This comes after the two towns were left with no banks between them following the closure of Horwich’s last surviving branch of NatWest.

Bolton West MP Chris Green said: “With the closure of bank branches, I know that residents are concerned about access to banking services across the Bolton West and Atherton constituency.

“In Horwich, a temporary banking hub has been up and running for the last three weeks and I am working with James Grundy, the MP for Leigh, to get one for Atherton too.

The Bolton News: The NatWest on Lee Lane, Horwich was the last surviving bank in the Bolton West areaThe NatWest on Lee Lane, Horwich was the last surviving bank in the Bolton West area (Image: Google Maps)

“In Westhoughton, a banking hub has been selected and Cash Access UK have now found a location and are just waiting on the final confirmation.

“I am pleased that progress is being made and a great deal of work is being done to ensure that the hub is opened by August at the latest.”

This comes after the Bolton West area, which includes Westhoughton and Horwich, was hit particularly hard by bank closures in recent years.

Around 90 per cent them were found to have closed since 2015, prompting widespread concerns about the state of the area’s high streets.

Westhoughton has been left with no banks at all since the Lloyds’ Market Street branch closed in 2022.

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This forced people in the town to travel further afield into Bolton, Leigh or Wigan to be able to use banks.

But banking hubs have been set up all around the country in response to closures like these and Mr Green says the government has been working with the banking sector on this.

Cash Access UK, which sets up banking hubs around the country, has found a property in Westhoughton for the new hub and hopes it will be on track to open by the summer.

But they are not yet able to confirm the final location.