BANKS and post offices are condemned today by MPs for the spread of cashpoints, or ATMs, that charge customers £140m a year to withdraw their own money.

A report by the Treasury Select Committee criticises the high street banks for selling free machines to operators who typically charge £1.50 for each withdrawal.

Post offices, meanwhile, come under fire for not allowing individual sub-postmasters to insist upon free ATMs for their customers.

Three-quarters of post office machines now charge - an increasing problem as more pensioners receive benefits into their accounts, rather than over-the-counter.

Poorer people also suffer as fee-charging machines spread, because they tend to withdraw smaller amounts more frequently, increasing the overall cost.

Committee chairman John McFall said: "Banks should think carefully about the effect of their policies when closing or selling free machines that would deprive communities of free access to cash withdrawal.

"We are already paying £140m a year to access our own money. This is a very worrying trend and one that should be monitored closely. It would be wrong if every withdrawal was to hit consumers in their pocket."

At the very least, machines should carry prominent warnings that a fee would be imposed, the MPs said.

Middlesbrough, along with London, Manchester, Bradford, Birmingham, Glasgow and Liverpool, has the highest numbers of "financially excluded" people, according to Treasury figures.

However, the Treasury refused to release the postcodes where the poorest people live, preventing the committee from examining access to free cashpoints in those areas.

The report concluded that 37 per cent of cashpoints in the UK now charge, many of them were at "convenience" locations previously without ATMs, but some were replacing free machines.