Barclays Bank has said the cash machine at 1 Station Road, opposite Lewes railway station, will shut in December, leaving residents with even fewer ways to get cash in the town.
The decision would mean there would be no cash machines on the station side of the High Street, and it would also mean that people wouldn’t be able to withdraw cash in one of the busiest parts of town - right outside the train station.
LINK, the body funded by big banks to ensure a decent cash machine service, carried out an assessment of cash provision in Lewes if the Station Road ATM was to shut, and it came to the conclusion that the closure would present no problems.
It’s possible to appeal LINK’s decision, but only until 13 October, and the councillors are urging as many people as possible to join them in putting their name to the appeal.
To join the appeal search for ‘Lewes’ on this LINK webpage https://www.link.co.uk/our-assessments.
The councillors have also written to Barclays calling on them to change their mind and keep the ATM open.
Councillor Graham Clews, Green Party councillor for Priory ward in Lewes, said: “This is just the latest disastrous decision by one of the big banks that will make life harder for many Lewes people who choose, or need, to use cash in their lives.
“Many people rely on cash, and with only one other 24-hour town centre cash machine - at Nationwide - the closure of this ATM would be a real problem.
“It also means that Lewes’s many visitors won’t have a convenient way to take out some cash to spend in the town’s shops, cafes and pubs when they get off a train”.
Councillor Paul Keene, fellow Green Party councillor for Priory ward, said: “The LINK assessment didn’t even get beyond stage one of its own three-stage process. They just looked at whether there was another ATM in Lewes, and didn’t consider the wider banking picture in the town.
“If as many people as possible can appeal LINK’s decision then we may persuade Barclays to keep the cash machine open.”