Bank Closure

It's been happening in other small towns up and down the Welsh Marches, and now it seems it's Hay's turn.
The HSCB Bank will be closing on Friday 10th February, at 2pm.
The nearest branch will then be in Brecon.
The sign the bank has put up by the ATM machine, giving the details of the closure, says "We apologise for any inconvenience".
'Inconvenient' is usually a word to describe minor disturbances in a person's routine - and not really applicable to a branch closing forever, with all the customers needing to make alternative arrangements for their banking. My first response when I read that was: "Polite but inadequate."

All three banks in Hay have been cutting back on the hours they open, over a period of years. Barclays is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and Nat West have restricted their hours as well - but this is the first actual closure.
It's not very long since the HSBC had a disabled access lift put in at the entrance (that caused 'inconvenience', but not for long - and was a distinct improvement for the disabled customers). The work must have been quite expensive, and now it will probably be obsolete - who knows what the building will be used for next!

Some towns, of course, have no high street bank at all now, so Hay is still doing quite well in that regard - but it's one more example of services being gradually chipped away.