Residents have expressed frustration at a stand-off which could put the brakes on mobile banking in Stonehaven.
More than 150 Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest branches are to close with hundreds of job losses after a “dramatic shift” in customer banking.
Stonehaven’s RBS branch will close on October 2 but the company has been consulting with the community on the implementation of a mobile branch service.
The mobile unit would visit the town on Mondays and Thursdays for an hour at a time following the branch closure but have found nowhere suitable to park.
North East Scotland Conservative MSP Liam Kerr suggested a compromise after use of the Market Street public car park was deemed unsuitable by Aberdeenshire Council.
He suggested the unit could park at the northern side of the square where there are double yellow lines in place which allow the Stonehaven Land Train to park unhindered when in use.
The council agreed to the suggestion for a trial period of three months but proposed the mobile bank visit the town from 9am to 10am “to avoid a clash of vehicles” when the Land Train commences operations at 10am.
However, the bank said the slots pencilled in for Stonehaven are 10.45am to 11.45am following a visit to Inverurie and the earliest the mobile branch could be in the town would be 10.30am.
Discussions are ongoing between the bank and Aberdeenshire Council in a bid to resolve the situation and Mr Kerr has urged both parties to show “some degree of flexibility”.
He said: “Residents are hugely frustrated that we are now in a situation where RBS say they can offer mobile banking but not at the times and locations suggested by the council.
“This is not good enough.
“Losing the branch is one thing, but surely where there is the will to provide a service, we can reach an agreement on where and when that happens.
“At the end of the day, customers just want access to a bank and that face-to-face contact, at least for an hour or two.
“I don’t think that should be too much to ask and some degree of flexibility needs to be shown.”
RBS previously said that since 2011 it has seen the number of transactions in the Stonehaven branch decline by 30%.
It said these customers are actively choosing to bank in different ways, with 66.6% choosing to use its digital banking options.