Watford has lost dozens of cash machines during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report.

The report by UK merchant payment provider Dojo, part of the Paymentsense brand, has revealed the extent to which Britain’s high streets are losing their ATM’s and which UK cities are the most affected.

It revealed that during the pandemic, Watford has lost 32 ATMs, meaning there are now only 109 available to the residents.

This is a decline of 22.70 per cent, the report said.

The report also found that between January 2019 and September 2020, the number of cash machines in Britain dropped from 62,967 to 55,674, a decrease of 7,293, with an average of over 340 machines disappearing from high streets every month.

Jon Knott, Head of Customer Insight at Dojo, said: “During the course of the coronavirus pandemic, the makeup of the great British highstreet has changed enormously. 

"While it’s long been evolving in the face of the rising of the digital marketplace, coronavirus has reaffirmed the dominance of financial technologies.

"As we’ve seen already in the press, the contactless limit could increase once again from £45 to £100, allowing people more convenience to tap for their in-store purchases. With more and more people opting for Apple and Google Pay which has no capped limit for contactless payments, consumers are welcoming the efficiency and speed at which they can purchase larger value products and services.

"It is no surprise then, in our digitised economy, that the use of cash is decreasing, making ATMs redundant.“