Barclays has announced that its branch in Kimbolton - which was hit by a ram-raid earlier this year - will not be re-opening.

The bank in High Street has been closed since the raid in the early hours of January 6 during which a teleporter was used to break through the wall in attempt to remove the cash machine.

Following the closure, village residents and businesses launched a petition calling for a reversal of the company’s decision.

However, a spokesman for Barclay’s told The Hunts Post that before the incident and closure, the branch had experienced a low and falling level of transactions, with a seven per cent drop in the last year.

“On average more than 56 per cent of our customers were already using our other local branches before the branch had to close, and this figure is even higher for our business customers,” the spokesman added.

“This incident prompted us to review how our customers use our banking services in the area and we have therefore made the difficult decision not to re-open Kimbolton branch.

“As the branch has been closed for some time now, customers are using our branches at St Neots and Huntingdon for everyday transactions.”

According to the spokesman staff from the branch had been working at other local stores since the ram-raid.

During the raid in January, offenders left empty-handed after being unable to remove the cash machine.

It was the second time the branch had been targeted which had caused major structural damage to the premises.