Not quite on topic, but banking-related: I need to pay in a cheque, but my local branch in Southport is closed because of staff shortage. Looking at the HSBC branch finder, I'm told that the nearest branches are in Formby and Ormskirk, both open 10-2 pm; what's more surprising is that the 3rd nearest branch is said to be in St Annes on Sea, only 8.9 miles away. Unfortunately that's a straight line distance across the Ribble estuary (and even more bizarrely, the Preston branch isn't shown).
I haven't made my mind up if a bus trip to Ormskirk on an empty bus to pay cheques in is acceptable as "essential" travel or not. The money is a bulk refund from a holiday company for a cancelled holiday in mid-Wales I organised (we should have been going today), and I need to pay it in before I can write cheques to my disappointed clients for their individual refunds. So far they are being patient.
The machines to pay cheques in at my local branch (HSBC Lord Street) are in the lobby, behind the closed outer doors, and the usual button to press to open the outer doors for admission when the branch itself is closed, is not admitting anyone at the moment. The mobile app for paying cheques in is no use, as I don't bank on line and have never owned or needed a mobile phone in my life (I'd need a spirit medium or an Ouija board to get in touch with my loved ones).