It was widely expected to happen but the closure of the Royal Bank of Scotland branch in Kyle is still a blow. RBS announced months ago that it wanted to shut a number of branches in rural areas and targeted several across the Highlands and Islands. A review of its operations by the firm Johnston Carmichael apparently found that usage of the Kyle branch was too low to make it sustainable. It is this kind of slicing at rural infrastructure that makes life in remote and rural communities ever more fragile. At a time when the powers-that-be are trying to repopulate such areas, this is, to say the least, unhelpful. RBS remains in public ownership, which only serves to deepen the sense of disappointment at this decision.