「所有銀行都關門了」的「廢棄」小鎮的憤怒居民表示，他們的意見沒有被聽取——甚至連郵局現在都在關閉

由於客流量不足，東薩塞克斯郡的濱海貝克斯希爾 (Bexhill-on-Sea) 的商業活動遭受重創，許多業主都在乞求「復興」。

Angry residents of an "abandoned" town where "all the banks are closed" say they aren't being listened to - and even the Post Office is now going.

一個“廢棄”城鎮的憤怒居民說，“所有銀行都關門了”，他們的聲音沒有被傾聽——甚至郵局現在也被關閉了。

Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex is struggling with businesses taking a huge hit in the seaside town due to the lack of footfall and many owners are begging for "regeneration".

由於客流量不足，東薩塞克斯郡的濱海貝克斯希爾 (Bexhill-on-Sea) 的商業活動遭受重創，許多業主都在乞求「復興」。

Despite having three councils to collaborate on improving the area, residents say "they're not listening to the town" with "local businesses having nowhere to bank".

儘管有三個議會合作改善該地區，但居民表示“他們沒有聽取鎮上的意見”，“當地企業無處可存”。

"If you speak to a lot of shop owners you'll now see a lot of empty shops around. There's more and more shops closing, all the banks have now closed - we've just found out today that our post office is going to be closed. Local businesses have nowhere to bank," said Luke Oliver, owner of Sweets On Sea.

「如果你和很多店主交談，你現在會看到周圍有很多空蕩蕩的商店。越來越多的商店關門了，所有銀行都關門了——我們今天剛剛發現我們的郵局將要關閉當地企業無處可存，」Sweets On Sea 的老闆盧克·奧利弗(Luke Oliver) 說。

Lloyds Bank, HSBC and NatWest are among the companies who have closed their doors for good over the past years, leaving the entrepreneurs of Bexhill unable to access local banks.

勞埃德銀行 (Lloyds Bank)、匯豐銀行 (HSBC) 和國民威斯敏斯特銀行 (NatWest) 等公司在過去幾年中永久關門，導致貝克斯希爾的企業家無法接觸當地銀行。

"It's getting worse because of the local councils - too many councils in the town. We've got East Sussex County Council, Rother District Council and now Bexhill Town Council and they're all fighting each other," Mr Oliver, 48, told the Express. "They're not listening to the town, it needs regeneration. There's been a decline in customers."

48 歲的奧利佛先生告訴記者：「由於地方議會的原因，情況變得更糟——鎮上的議會太多了。我們有東薩塞克斯郡議會、羅瑟區議會，現在還有貝克斯希爾鎮議會，他們都在互相爭鬥。 “他們沒有聽取小鎮的意見，小鎮需要復興。顧客數量有所下降。”

Bexhill has a population of just over 40,000 residents with 34% being over 65 years old. Many locals depend on high street shops for their supplies who are unable to access large stores outside of town.

貝克斯希爾 (Bexhill) 人口略多於 40,000 名居民，其中 34% 年齡超過 65 歲。許多當地人依賴大街商店購買物資，他們無法前往城外的大型商店。

On Wednesday the Post Office announced 115 branch closures with Bexhill being on the list. One resident, Andrew Cotty, claims he will be "out there day and night with a petition, like I did for the public toilets" if it does close. "There have been lots of changes but not good ones, not for the businesses," he added.

週三，郵局宣布關閉 115 個分支機構，貝克斯希爾 (Bexhill) 也在其中。一位名叫安德魯·科蒂(Andrew Cotty)的居民聲稱，如果廁所關閉，他將「日夜在那裡請願，就像我為公共廁所所做的那樣」。 「發生了很多變化，但不是好的變化，對企業來說不是，」他補充道。

Local Conservative MP Dr Kieran Mullan has launched a petition in protest to this: "The loss of four major banks from our high streets has had a big impact on the town and residents were told that their day to day banking needs could be met by the Post Office. It is therefore vital that we do not lose this service or the highly experienced Post Office staff who understand and serve the community so well."

當地保守黨議員基蘭·穆蘭(Kieran Mullan) 博士對此發起了請願書抗議：「我們大街上四家主要銀行的消失對該鎮產生了巨大影響，居民們被告知，他們的日常銀行業務需求可以透過銀行來滿足。 因此，至關重要的是，我們不要失去這項服務，也不要失去那些非常了解社區並為社區服務的經驗豐富的郵局工作人員。

The 'Save Bexhill Post Office' is available to people to sign until December 31, 2024. Being just a 30 minute drive to Eastbourne and a 20 minute drive to Hastings, two larger Sussex towns, local businesses are finding it harder to compete to bring external visitors to their shops.

「拯救貝克斯希爾郵局」可供人們簽名，直至2024 年12 月31 日。分鐘車程，當地企業發現很難競爭外部訪客到他們的商店。

Local butcher Sean Piper says: "There's a lot of retired people that live here so it's very quiet. People tend to go to Eastbourne or Hastings." Piper, 57, explains how this Summer has been "slightly" quieter. "You do walk around the streets and see quite a lot of empty shops at the moment," he adds.

當地屠夫肖恩·派珀說：“這裡住著很多退休人員，所以非常安靜。人們傾向於去伊斯特本或黑斯廷斯。” 57 歲的派珀 (Piper) 解釋了今年夏天如何「稍微」安靜了一些。 「你在街上走一走，確實會看到很多空蕩蕩的商店，」他補充道。