Vast swathes of Britain have become ‘cash deserts’

Dozens of towns and cities have turned into “cash deserts” where shoppers are regularly blocked from paying with notes and coins.

In some areas almost half of people have been barred from paying in cash this year, according to a major survey of consumers conducted for Telegraph Money by cash machine provider Cardtronics. More than 430,000 cash machine users were asked whether they had been blocked from paying in cash in their local area, with hundreds of thousands reporting they had been refused service when trying to do so.

In the HA postcode area – which covers Harrow in north London – 46pc of respondents said they had struggled to pay in cash. People living in Luton (43pc) and Ilford, east London, (42pc) were also regularly blocked.

Outside the South East, Belfast, Coventry, Liverpool, Manchester and Swindon were other areas where more than a third of people had been barred from using cash. Rural areas fared much better. Just 17pc of those surveyed in the HS postcode area, covering the Outer Hebrides, said they had been stopped from using cash, while in the LD postcode district in central Wales the figure was 18pc.

Across the country, more than half of people believe Britain is becoming a cashless society against its will. Of the 433,000 people asked this question, 239,000 – equivalent to 55pc – felt this way. Even those in areas with high acceptance were concerned about the demise of physical currency.

Many shops, restaurants and sporting venues have blocked customers from paying in their preferred way. Reader Mike Dunn contacted this newspaper to say he was refused service at Lord’s Cricket Ground when he tried to pay at a bar in cash. Lord’s said its cash ban helped it serve customers “more efficiently and hygienically” but said some bars would accept cash in exceptional circumstances. This newspaper’s Keep Cash campaign has urged the Government to ensure people can both access and spend cash. Writing in Telegraph Money today (see page 12), James Daley, of Fairer Finance, a consumer campaign group, warned that bank branch closures had exacerbated the decline of physical currency. Almost half of people surveyed in Harrow, north London, had been blocked from using cash 46%

Reader Mike Dunn was blocked from using cash at Lord’s Cricket Ground on a recent visit. Lord’s said its cash ban was ‘efficient’ and ‘hygienic’ for visitors