Millions of pensioners 'could struggle pay for essentials'
‘When our post office shuts the nearest ATM is four miles away’
THE paid-for ATM in Joe Williams’s village shop in Oxfordshire was removed last year.
Since then the Post Office has been the only place in a four-mile radius where people can withdraw cash.
Joe said: “I was told that the cash machine was not attracting enough footfall to justify the cost of keeping it there.
“I suggested that they should make it free to attract more customers but they did not like that idea.
“The PO counters are opened as long as the shop is, but after we close there’s nowhere within four miles to get cash out-of-hours.”
Mr Williams, who is a partner alongside his parents who have run the Hook Norton shop, for 30 years, added: “About 60 per cent of our business is done via a debit card, but 40 per cent is cash.
“Cash is still an important way of paying for things especially for small businesses, such as our village mobile chip shop, which doesn’t accept cards because of expensive charges levied by banks and the poor broadband signals.”