A community has won their wish for a new free ATM.

Several residents of the Buckland Estate of Dover had requested one and it is now located at the One Stop Stores branch on Sheridan Road.

An old free machine was discontinued several years ago.

This then meant that residents who wished to have access to the banknotes had to walk 10 minutes to the Crabble Post Office on Buckland Avenue for cash withdrawals at the counter.

However, the round trip meant walking up the steep hill of Green Lane for older residents.

LINK, the automated teller machine (ATM) network helped set this up, having already funded five more in Kent, including Ashford, Deal and Margate in the past 18 months.

Over 55 communities across the UK have benefited from this initiative to date.

Buckland residents got what they wanted through LINK’s Community Application Program, which invites any local individual or group to apply for an ATM.

If it meets criteria which include distance to the nearest free ATM, availability of a post office, site security, and there is a suitable location, LINK will directly fund the new ATM.

LINK explains that cash remains vital for local communities despite a sharp decline in ATM usage in Kent since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Withdrawals in the county fell 42% between April 2020 and March compared to the same period the previous year, which equates to over 600 million fewer withdrawals.

Ian Vernon, Head of Business Initiatives, said: “We know more and more people are comfortable using contactless cards or their mobile phones to pay for their everyday items.

“However, digital payments don’t work for everyone and it’s only by visiting sites like Buckland Valley that you understand why we need to protect access to cash.

“We encourage people to get in touch with us because it is only by listening directly to communities that we better understand how we can support.”

Read more: All the latest news from Dover