At the moment only branches in the east of the county have been earmarked for closure. The Christchurch branch on High Street will close its doors on Wednesday July 21, the branch in New Milton will close on Thursday July 22 and the Ferndown branch in Victoria Road will shut its doors for good on Wednesday July 28. The bank says that the decision to close the three branches is unrelated to the pandemic and any customer behaviour changes since Covid-19. A Barclays spokesperson said: “The decision to close a branch is never an easy one. However, customers are increasingly using alternatives to branches to do their banking. As a result, we are seeing a sustained fall in branch visits across the UK.
It is essential to know the symptomatic and asymptomatic incidence of Covid in our community. However, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and here’s the weakest link. It appears some Covid testing centres in the BCP area are not performing their service. I was told by chance that a Covid testing centre was open at Boscombe Pier. I visited the pier and asked people where it was - nobody knew. There were no signs of any testing centre at the pier. Other people who came to the pier seeking to be tested left without locating the test site. It transpired the testing van had been placed hundreds of yards to the west along a locked barrier section of the promenade.