Two MHKs have written to Isle of Man Bank criticising its current operations and calling on it to reopen branches.

Glenfaba and Peel MHKs Ray Harmer and Geoffrey Boot wrote to bank boss Stuart Chivers after comments he made when talking to the Examiner’s Business News.

When Mr Chivers spoke to the Isle of Man Examiner, he was asked what were the prospects for the eventual reopening of the temporarily closed branches in Port Erin, Peel and Regent Street, Douglas.

He said: ’They are under constant review and we will be following government guidance but then also on top of that we will be looking at our own health and safety policy and procedures to ensure we can be comfortable when we do go back.’

Asked if he had received much feedback from customers regarding the closed branches he added: ’If you look at digital that gives an insight into how customers have been interacting with us.’

However, Mr Harmer and Mr Boot have criticised what they see as a ’distinct lack of comment with regard to closed branches’.

Mr Harmer and Mr Boot asked Mr Chivers to commit to reopening the Peel and Port Erin branches ’as soon as possible’ and for the bank to revert to its regular opening hours.

They added: ’If you really believe your customer base has been satisfied by the level of serviced offered during the crisis then we think you are deluding yourself and are listening to the wrong people.

’Sadly it is difficult to make your opinions known when there is no face-to-face contact with the branch closed.’

A statement from the bank on Wednesday said it would be reopening its Regent Street branch and extending the opening hours at Athol Street, Ramsey and Castletown branches.

As of Monday, June 29, those branches will open from 9.30am to 4.30pm.

A spokesman said: ’During this unprecedented crisis, hundreds of our customers have requested support with overdrafts, loans and capital repayments breaks and many of our colleagues have been re-deployed to help customers with their critical needs and to meet the drive to use our digital options.

’However, as restrictions are lifted and high streets and businesses re-open, there is now increased demand and so we plan to re-open our Regent Street branch from Monday and extend the opening hours of three other branches.

’With many colleagues still re-deployed to meet critical customer needs, we do not have the resources to open all our branches at the present time without affecting our ability to meet customer requirements effectively.

’We are sorry that we cannot open all our branches at the moment but we will keep the opening times of all our branches under constant review and make further changes when the time is right.’

The MHKs’ letter added: ’We thought to let you know as the constituency MHKs for Glenfaba and Peel that we have received numerous approaches from individuals and businesses regarding the closure of the Peel branch.

’Our constituents are anxious that there is a plan to permanently close the branch which will have knock on implications for businesses and the general public, as the nearest branch will then be Douglas.’

Barclays bank told customers that its Manx branches had returned to normal opening hours as of Monday this week. Lloyds, HSBC and Santander have also returned to regular hours in their branches.