After a few people had contacted me with their concerns over NatWest's decision to move war memorials from the recently closed Westhoughton branch to the Leigh branch, I wrote to the Chief Executive of RBS to ask him to look into it.
RBS's response is here:
"The two memorials that currently occupy the former branch building in Westhoughton were originally installed in our Hindley branch. They commemorate three former NatWest colleagues who, at the time of their deaths in the first and second world wars, were serving in the Hindley branch.
In 2004, we implemented a policy to preserve the protection and maintenance of our war memorials, meaning that items housed in a closed or soon-to-be closed branch should be re-located to the branch receiving their business. However, in 1997, when the Hindley branch closed, there was no such policy in place and the memorials were passed to the Westhoughton branch for reasons I have been unable to confirm.
We have therefore taken the decision to move the memorials to Wigan Standishgate, which is where they would have been sent to in 1997, had policy been in place at the time. We have a responsibility to treat all of our war memorials consistently and respectfully, ensuring we revere the memory of those who lost their lives and also avoid the censure of external agencies or relatives of commemorated individuals.
While it is clear the memorials mean a great deal to the Westhoughton community, the individuals for whom the memorial was commissioned have no connections to Westhoughton. On that basis, we feel the right thing to do is to transfer them to Wigan Standishgate- the wording on the memorials directly relates to the bank and its staff and I hope you can understand why we want to preserve them in a NatWest branch.
I acknowledge how disappointing our decision will be for the community and I am genuinely sorry that I can't take your enquiry further. Thank you again for taking the time to make Ross McEwan aware of the situation and for allowing me the opportunity to investigate and respond."