Delight as Durness to get new ATM
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The north-west Sutherland village that lost its only cash machine - leaving people with a 100 mile round trip to the next nearest one - is to get a new ATM.
Guest house and B&B b owners have even had to lend visitors cash in Durness after the Bank of Ireland closed its ATM at the local Spar shop in June.
But yesterday LINK, the UK’s main ATM cash machine network, announced that a new free-to-use ATM will be installed in the village as part of a new pilot. No date has yet been given for its opening.
The community is one of five across the UK with poor access to cash where LINK plans to directly commissioning a new ATM.
LINK CEO John Howells said: “LINK will organise a new free ATM for Durness as part of a national trial to see how to best provide free access
to cash.”
The announcement has been warmly welcomed by community and political leaders.
Far North MP Jamie Stone Stone said: “This is excellent news for Durness. The closure of the ATM has been a source of great concern and I have been meeting with LINK to try to address this matter.”
Local Highland Councillor Hugh Morrison, who runs the Smoo Cave Hotel in Durness, said:” This is fantastic news. The loss of the ATM has caused enormous problems. Not everywhere or everybody is ready for the cashless society."
Fellow councillor Kirsteen Currie added: “The previous decision to remove the provision was short-sighted and a real blow to the economy of the area. I'm happy to see that LINK will be providing a new service and it’s fantastic that Durness has been chosen as the only location in Scotland to test out this project."
Gail Ross, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, said: “This will make a massive difference to locals and tourists and I hope that the new service can be provided as soon as possible to the community”
The ATM had been at the Spar shop run by John Mackenzie of R Mackay and Sons for over 15 years.
But he received a letter from the bank giving him a month's notice of its intention to remove the machine.
It means money could only be withdrawn from the Post Office inside the shop 9-5.30pm six days a week - except when the counter is closed on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.
"It has been a bit of a shock here, but I'm delighted we are going to get one back," said Mr Mackenzie. "The main problem has been with foreign cards which can't be used in the Post Office."
Since the ATM at Durness has been shut, customers wanting to withdraw money at any time face either a 53 mile drive to Lochinver or a 71 mile ride to Thurso.
There is an ATM at Kinlochbervie 18 miles away - but that was inside a shop and subject to its hours of opening.
There were about 52,000 free cash machines in the country at the start of the year.
But machines vanished at a rate of 488 a month from June to December 2018, according to figures obtained by Which?
