A LOCAL MP is backing a campaign to stop cash machines being closed in rural towns.

Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Liz Saville Roberts, is supporting a campaign to prevent further ATM closures in her rural constituency.

Cashpoints are under threat because LINK – which runs the UK’s largest cash machine network – has cut the amount that banks pay operators for withdrawals, making some machines no longer financially viable to run.

With 2,611 ATM machines having disappeared across the UK in the five months between December 2017 and May this year, fears are mounting that rural constituencies such as Dwyfor Meirionnydd could be disproportionally affected if the pattern of closures continue, impacting highstreets, local trade and peoples’ ability to pay for goods and services.

Liz Saville Roberts MP has teamed-up with consumers charity Which to call on the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to conduct an urgent review to fully evaluate the impact that these closures are having on communities and peoples’ ability to use cash payments.

She said: “Our communities cannot afford to lose more cashpoints, which local businesses and people rely on.

“These machines are vital to the local economy and important to peoples’ daily lives – from buying groceries to paying bills – access to cash is essential, especially with banks removing services from our towns.

“I’m pleased to back Which? with their campaign to exert pressure on the regulator to take action and I will be calling on the regulator to ensure local people aren’t suddenly left being unable to pay in cash.

“With the perennial closure of high street banks, cashpoints have become a necessity for many communities in Dwyfor Meirionnydd.

“If there are renewed threats to ATMs then many people will be left struggling to access the cash they need – with severe consequences for communities and businesses.

“And it will be the most vulnerable and the poor who are impacted most as they face difficulties to withdraw cash without having to travel to their nearest free ATM.”