East Wittering banks run out of cash on bank holiday

David Watson, 85, from Almodington, was in Bracklesham and East Wittering over the weekend and tried to get some money out to spend in the shops.

“We tried all the banks,” he said, adding all the ATM machines appeared to have run out of cash.

He described the Witterings and Bracklesham as a little area on the peninsula that was heavily reliant on a cash income from tourists during the summer months.

Mr Watson said he tried all the banks and they did not have a single penny.

“We just tried them all and there was no money.”

He said it was outrageous the banks were not helping the communities in which they were based by ensuring the ATM machines were stocked 
sufficiently for bank holidays.

Banks in the village include Barclays and Lloyds. HSBC has closed its branch in the village.

In addition, Mr Watson said the Tesco Express ATM was also empty.

In response, a Lloyds Bank spokesman said: “We’re extremely sorry for any inconvenience caused by the lack of cash at our East Wittering cash point.

“We do have processes in place to ensure there are sufficient funds available, however there was unprecedented demand for this service over the bank holiday weekend.”

The Observer did attempt to contact Barclays but no-one answered the telephone.

Mr Watson continued: “I thought to myself, is there not an alarm system in the bank which triggers?

“People want to spend money, but they can’t get any.

“How ridiculous is it when we’re trying to get a community going on against the odds but this is what we’re up against.”

He added people came down from London with their families and would often end up spending more money than they anticipated. He said although a number of people did use debit cards, often they would still want to withdraw cash from the ATM machines.

“It’s awful, it shouldn’t be allowed,” he said of the banks’ cash flow problem.

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