A CAMPAIGN to save Caerleon’s only bank from closure is mounting as hundreds of people sign a petition against the move.

Customers of the town’s HSBC branch and local politicians expressed outrage following the announcement that the bank will shut its branch in Backhall Street on November 2.

A spokesman for the branch said last week that it is currently only open for limited hours during the week and HSBC is investigating whether it will leave a cash machine following the closure. It said the branch’s two staff will move to another local branch.

HSBC had shut the next nearest branch to Caerleon, on Caerleon Road, St Julian’s, in June 2011. It closed its Blaenavon branch in May this year.

Angela Jones, who runs the Red Lion pub next door and has been a customer of the branch for 14 years, started a petition against the move on Friday, which has filled 14 pages’ worth of signatures.

Ms Jones, who is also a former city councillor, said she often has to queue in the branch which has the area’s only free cashpoint.

She said: “We are going to have to go to Cwmbran or Newport, which is not convenient at all.

“We have put the petition in local shops, the pub and bank and have had pages of signatures in support in three days.”