Try cryptovoucher . io

Fees arent so bad if you only purchase small amounts and you can just top up your wallet this way, it's the only somewhat cheap method I've found that's hassel free and no verification needed (as long as you stay within their daily/monthly purchase limits)

Coinbase wouldn't process payments from my Lloyds card. I got the card cancelled and a new one issued and all was fine

Fire.

I just looked them up and ... https://cryptobriefing.com/fire-com-burns-bitcoin-bridges/

My bank has a no bitcoin policy as well and I'm looking for alternatives.

Epilogue : with my bank a dead end I thought I'd try a Bitcoin atm so I looked up the map on coinatmradar, found one about half an hour away listed as online "reported by provider 10 minutes ago".

Went there and the guy said they hadn't had a bitcoin machine in the shop since he bought it a few years previously.

try localbitcoins.com - there should be a link to your local exchange, at least thats how it is in my country. cheapest btc one can find and I pay for it with a slip and with cash.

Well that does seem to have got trustpilot reviews, although I thought p2p transactions were a bit risky.

I avoided paxful on the same basis, although they've got the option to use paypal, which would be convenient.

I've heard reports that paypal are also not keen on transactions buying bitcoin, but I'm not sure how accurate that is.

Just get a Monzo bank account. It’s online only. Takes minutes to set up. I transfer money from my main bank account into my Monzo account (instant transaction) then buy from Monzo using Coinbase.

The entire buying process takes less than 5 minutes and you don’t have to go anywhere.