TRUSTEES of the Bolton Islamic relief charity — which has been told its bank account will be closed by HSBC — have launched a last-ditch attempt to keep their account.

The Ummah Welfare Trust was told by officials in July that the bank would no longer let them have an account because it would be “too risky” for the organisation.

The bank refused to say why they had made the decision, although leaders of the charity, based in St Helens Road, Daubhill, said they believed it was in relation to their relief efforts in the Middle East.

The charity raises millions of pounds each year to provide vital services and support to victims of conflict — most recently in Palestine. The decision by HSBC was made during the height of the Gaza conflict.

Since then, Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi has met with the chief executive of HSBC to raise the issue, and the trust has called on its members to boycott the bank.

Now, trustee Mohammed Ahmad has told The Bolton News they have organised a meeting with banking bosses on Friday — three days before the deadline for the charity to find somewhere else to bank.

He said HSBC’s international presence, with branches in more than 70 countries, makes it the most effective organisation for them to carry out their international transactions He said: “There’s been a lot of pressure internationally so we are now waiting for a decision.

“We have also got some barristers looking into it to see what legal options are available to us.

“What we want to tell them is that it’s not in your interests, and it’s not in ours, so can we find a solution.

“If they have an issue with international transfers we could look at another provider, but we need to keep the account open with HSBC.”

A spokesman for HSBC said decisions to end a customer relationship were not taken lightly and were “absolutely not” based on race or religion.

“We do not discuss individual customers, nor do we confirm whether an individual or business is, or has been a customer”, he added.

“Discrimination against customers on grounds of race or religion is immoral, unacceptable and illegal, and HSBC has comprehensive rules and policies in place to ensure race or religion are never factors in banking decisions.”