THOUSANDS of Barclays customers in South Lakeland will now face long journeys to make cash withdrawals after the bank announced the service will no longer be accessible at Post Offices.

MP Tim Farron hit out at the news and said he had written to Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom and Barclays CEO Jes Staley to demand that the decision be reversed.

From next January, Barclays customers will only be able to deposit cash and cheques and check their balances at Post Office branches and will not able to withdraw cash.

A Barclays spokesperson said that it wanted to reduce its customers' reliance on the Post Office, while investing more in free-to-use cash machines and cashback services at local businesses.

But the Westmorland and Lonsdale MP pointed out that Barclays have recently closed their branches in a number of communities in the area including Milnthorpe, Sedbergh, Grange-over-Sands and Ambleside.

And Mr Farron said this week's decision meant large numbers of Barclays customers in his constituency, many of who are elderly, would now find it extremely difficult to withdraw money, especially as public transport in the area was now becoming more limited.