Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Tall order to get cash
Arbroath ATM proves out of reach for one of Tele’s team
IT’S no tall tale –Tayside really is home to one of the world’s loftiest ATMs.
And the Tele sent its own Little and Large team to investigate the ‘cash machine for giants’.
The Arbroath ATM (auto teller machine) has been baffling bank customers due to its incredible height.
And so long, tall Matteo Bell and deceptively diminutive sidekick Kenny MacDonald made a visit to the seaside town to road test the infamous Royal Bank of Scotland mystery machine at Brothock Bridge.
Kenny struggled to see the screen, but with a bit of help from colleague Matteo and a traditional “punt-up”, he managed to punch in the keys.
He said: “That was the first time I had seen the ATM in Arbroath and it is really high up. It’s crazy.
“I could not see the screen properly but I am only 5ft 6in and had to stretch a bit to put my card in the slot.”
Matteo, at a towering 6ft 1in, said: “It was no bother for me but I can see why it causes problems.
“I was able to help Kenny up, but it was a struggle as he has put on a few pounds, if you will pardon the pun.”
An image of the ATM, which was posted to Twitter went viral, gaining almost 5,400 likes and 300 retweets. It was latterly shared all over various social media platforms.
It shows Reece Robertson, a friend of poster Holly Girolami, attempting to use the RBS machine while on a day out in the town.
Holly said: “Utterly perplexed by this cash machine in Arbroath.
“Why is it like this? Who is this for? Reece looks like a borrower.”
Many users saw the funny side of the lofty cash machine and one wrote: “Very little chance of someone looking over your shoulder.”
Another added: “I must see this one-of-a-kind tourist attraction” after seeing the dynamic duo attempting to operate the ATM.
The cash machine, which presents a challenge to many of the seaside town’s shorter residents, has in fact stood for more than 12 years.
Residents have long complained about the “giant’s cash machine”, as they are forced to use the one around the corner, which has a ramp, or inside the RBS branch.
One customer, Bill Jarret, 77, from Arbroath, said: “It’s awful.
“It has been here for 12 years and is terrible. I heard the bank hasn’t changed the machine because it is not their building.
“My account is here and when I come to take money out I never use the ATM outside, I just go inside where there’s one at the right height.”
An RBS spokeswoman said: “People have complained for years about it, but we cannot change the machine because it’s not our building. It belongs to next door.”