Barnet Council is being severely criticised for its plans to shut down a popular, free-to-use cash machine located in Mays Lane.

Its closure would force local residents to travel over half a mile to the cash machine in Chesterfield Parade instead - creating extra car journeys and unnecessary emissions in the process.

The Council's plans have been slammed by Bank Machine - the company which installed the free-to-use ATM (Automated Teller Machine) just over a year ago, in response to local residents' need for convenient access to cash.

The company's Managing Director, Ron Delnevo, said:

"It's a bizarre decision by Barnet. Right across the country, councils keep asking us to install free-to-use cash machines - especially in low income areas. They're convenient for local residents and enable locally-run shops to attract extra customers. So it's a 'win-win' situation for everyone.

But Barnet is bucking the trend. In fact, it's become the first council in the country to call for the closure of one of our free-to-use cash machines in a low-income area. Local residents have every reason to be livid. They've been using the machine in Mays Lane, free of charge, over 5,000 times each month. Now the Council expects them to travel much further to get their cash. The residents will be losing an important local amenity."

Barnet Council has based its decision on advice from the Metropolitan Police that the area is a crime hot-spot. The Police pointed out that the shop where the machine is located - Forbuoys Newsagents - had been broken into a number of times prior to the ATM being installed, and that the machine would act as a crime-generator. But these fears have proved totally unfounded: in fact, thanks to improved security measures implemented by Bank Machine, as part of the ATM installation process, local crime figures have been falling - not rising - since the cash machine was installed.

Ron Delnevo, who is also a Director of the UK Payments Council, added:

"I'm incensed by Barnet's decision. The Council should be helping, not hurting, the local community. I hope that residents will join Bank Machine in our quest to get this ridiculous decision reversed. With their help, I'm sure the Council can be made to see sense."

Background notes

1. Bank Machine created the UK's independent ATM market ten years ago and now has 2,300 cash machines in locations including cinemas, garage forecourts and retail outlets - ranging from Selfridges to convenience stores.

2. It began by installing pay-to-use cash machines in convenient locations, but has since been building a free-to-use network - with over 500 free-to-use ATMs installed in, for example, NHS hospitals, military bases and low income areas.

3. Based in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Bank Machine (a division of Cardtronics Inc.) now has nearly 100 staff.

4. For further information about Bank Machine, please visit its website (www.bankmachine.com) or contact Iain Wilton, at Quintus Public Affairs, via 020 7811 4691 / iain@quintuspa.com