PORT Glasgow town centre is set to retain its ATM following the closure of a local high street branch after Inverclyde's MSP secured a guarantee from bank bosses.

Locals had feared they would be left without easy, round-the-clock access to cash following the closure of Port Glasgow’s Bank of Scotland branch tomorrow (September 10).

Those concerns were echoed by local businesses, who engaged with Greenock and Inverclyde MSP Stuart McMillan at a recent business surgery he held in the Port town.

Mr McMillan has now taken those worries up with Bank of Scotland chiefs and says they are now working with their industry partners to find a suitable location for a new ATM in the town centre.

Stuart told the Tele: “[Former MP] Ronnie Cowan and I had dialogue with the bank in the past when the bank indicated they were going to close, and their ATM was going to go. 

"It was obvious that there was a problem in terms of access to cash in Port Glasgow town centre.

“We had quite a lot of discussion with the Bank of Scotland, and we got the confirmation last week that the ATM is going to remain, though  it’ll have to go into a different location.

“I welcome that it’s going to stay, but I would hope it goes to a location that’s accessible.

"I will have further dialogue with the bank about this, because it’s clear that the current location never has been accessible.

“In the past when there were multiple ATMs in the town there was always going to be access for people, whereas now with that one going to stay, then that’s hugely important for Port Glasgow town centre.

“It really is important that it stays, and it goes into a location that’s better for everyone.

“Access to cash is hugely important and I think any financial institution that forgets that is deluding themselves.

“This is my constituency and my community.  I know the situation Inverclyde has, and I know with that older population there are many individuals who still have a distrust of online banking and shopping, so having access to cash is hugely important.”

The SNP politician says he spoke with local businesses in the Port town last month to determine how many do their business banking with the local Bank of Scotland branch, and whether they prefer card or cash payments.

Of the 18 businesses engaged with, half were either reliant solely on cash payments or strongly preferred for customers to pay by cash.

He added: “My business surgery demonstrated the need for an ATM within the Port town so that residents and customers maintain greater access to cash.

“I know there are ATM facilities within the Post Office in USave on John Wood Street, but if it’s closed, walking over to the Tesco supermarket is not an option for everyone.

“This is therefore good news for businesses and good news for the people of Port Glasgow.

“When I visited the ATM machine at the bank branch today before its closure, it was regularly in use – proving once again the demand for this facility.

“I’ll continue dialogue with Bank of Scotland in the hopes that a suitable location can be found quickly, and so that the ATM is installed without delay to maintain 24-hour access to cash within Port Glasgow town.”