A PROMINENT Penrith bank looks set to be decommissioned, after plans have been lodged for the 'established' town centre building.

Plans have been submitted to Westmorland and Furness Council for the decommissioning of the Barclays bank located on Market Square in Penrith, following its closure on Wednesday, April 17. 

The proposed work to decommission the three storey building includes the removal of existing external signage; removal of existing ATM and existing aperture to be infilled with stonework, and the removal of internal counters and all furniture.

The applicant has said they hope to return the building to its pre-Barclays occupation state as much as possible, with the applicant saying the 'original building fabric will not be altered, removed or concealed. All existing original features will not be affected by the proposed works'.

Documents supporting the application said: "This statement has been prepared in order to support an application for the decommission Barclays Bank, 2-3 Market Square, Penrith.

"The building is Grade-II Listed and is situated within a Conservation Area.

"The building has been a Barclays Bank for a number of years, serving the local community during this time. This building is in a prominent central location alongside other businesses and financial institutions within an established town centre community."

It was announced that the bank would close back in January, after what was described as changing attitudes to banking causing less customer traffic.

Barclays said that despite figures showing 103 customers use this branch regularly as the only way to do their banking, 89 per cent of people who use our branch also banked using the app, online and by phone in 2022.

In a statement, Barclays said: "Back when we opened this branch, visiting us in person was one of the only ways to do your banking.

"Now, as there are lots of ways to manage your money without even leaving your home, we’re seeing many customers choosing to bank using our app, and Online or Telephone Banking.

"This has had a big impact on the number of customers coming in to see us.

"We’ll be working with the local community to understand the impact of closing this branch.

"Once we’ve gathered feedback, we’ll publish the results in a booklet called ‘Branch closure feedback."