A NEWPORT pensioner who collected more than 3,000 signatures in a bid to save a city bank branch was told yesterday his efforts were in vain as the closure will go ahead.

Eric Channing, 71, met HSBC bosses following his two-and-a-half week stint standing outside the doomed Caerleon Road branch, collecting signatures for more than five hours each day.

Mr Channing, of Merlin Crescent, took to the street after learning HSBC would be closing the branch.

The idea came when he and his wife Jean learned of the planned closure and Mrs Channing said someone should start a petition opposing the move. Armed with a placard and a petition, Mr Channing collected 3,213 signatures which included people from as far afield as Jersey and Canada.

Last week, Mr Channing went to Cardiff Bay to present his petition to South Wales East AM Mohammad Asghar and Newport East AM John Griffiths at the Senedd before handing it in to the branch in Bute Street. Mr Channing and his wife have been using the Caerleon Road branch for 46 years.

He said: “I’m very disappointed with the outcome, the powers that be decided that even if I’d have got 20,000 signatures, they had made their mind up and that was it. I’m really glad I did it, the experience of doing it was awesome.”

The branch will shut on Friday, with the two members of staff being transferred to another branch.

An HSBC spokesman said the closure was due to a fall in the number of customers, combined with more people using telephone and internet banking.