Nearly 60 areas have benefited from an initiative launched in 2019 by LINK, the UK’s main cash machine network. It has installed several ATMs in places where consumers previously only had the option of paying to access cash. The average installation is saving the community around it ￡20,000 a year in withdrawal fees. In some locations, the free ATM means locals have saved as much as ￡40,000 a year.

       Around five million people are reliant on cash, including older people and those who are homeless.

       Nick Quin, head of financial inclusion at LINK, said: “These figures show the value free cash access can have in a community.

       “We’ve funded cash machines in some of the most deprived areas of the country and continue to support them where the only option is to pay to access cash.”

       The cash network plans to install up to 100 free ATMs in the next year under the scheme.

       Mr Quin said: “If you are in an area where accessing cash for free is an ordeal, get in touch with LINK to request support.”

       Among the areas to have benefited is the Oxford suburb of Barton. Local Sue Holden, 73, said: “We’re in quite a heavily deprived area, with low income brackets, so access to cash free of charge is really up there on everybody’s agenda.”

       Sue, who served as the area’s newsagent for 35 years before retiring, added: “We can’t afford to be a cashless society and we still have a huge need for hard cash.”