TEN rural bank branches threatened with closure are to be given a stay of execution, the Royal Bank of Scotland has announced.

The move comes amid anger over claims the bank was abandoning rural Scotland with plans to close 62 branches, more than a third of its total.

Now ten branches in Biggar, Beauly, Barra, Comrie, Douglas, Gretna, Inveraray, Melrose, Kyle, and Tongue will be given until the end of the year to demonstrate that they can attract "sustainable transactional increases" or viable new income.

RBS has promised that during this period an independent review will be carried out into the use of the branches – determining whether they should remain open.

It said the majority of the branches being offered a reprieve are in communities where there is no other Royal Bank branch within a nine mile radius.

As part of the announcement, the RBS said it would maintain the ATMs at branches affected by closures and offered to make empty branches available to local community groups for free.

Managing Director for Personal Banking, Jane Howard, said: “Having listened to the concerns of customers, communities and elected representatives from all political parties we have decided to keep ten branches open until the end of 2018. During this period we will monitor the level of transactions and new income at each branch and if there is a sustained and viable increase in both then we will reconsider the closure of the relevant branch as part of a full independent review.

“We’ll continue to invest in our branch network and services across Scotland. We provide our customers with more ways to bank than ever before – they can choose from a range of digital, to face-to-face options, including; Mobile and Online Banking, telephone banking, video banking, Community Bankers, our mobile banks on wheels, and Post Offices”.

The announcement came as Labour MP Clive Lewis accused the RBS of misleading the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee and had a policy of misleading MPs. Speaking at Westminster he said his comments were supported by a full, unredacted copy of the Financial Conduct Authority's report on the bank's treatment of small businesses. He claimed the published version of the report had been "sanitised".

The SNP claimed the change of heart at the RBS was due to its own campaign to prevent branch closures. In recent weeks, SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford has been in talks with RBS chiefs.



The SNP pledged to campaign to save the remaining branches across Scotland, and said the UK Government should intervene.



Mr Blackford said: “While this will come as relief to the communities who can continue to use their branches, RBS have failed to perform a complete U-turn, and the SNP will continue to campaign for the remaining branches, which we have been told will still close.



“While the Tory UK government has repeatedly refused to take action, the SNP will continue our campaign to save these banks, which are hugely important for local people and businesses."