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Lavenham Butchers makes cash-only plea to customers

Stuart Howells/BBC Andy Gleed at Lavenham ButchersStuart Howells/BBC
Manager Andy Gleed said customers had increasingly used cash since the message was shared on Friday

An independent butcher in Suffolk has asked customers to pay by cash in order to save on bank charges.

Lavenham Butchers, on the town's High Street, said it incurred more than £300 in bank processing fees because of card payments last month.

The owners said that as a small independent butcher, this was a "huge amount".

Manager Andy Gleed said more customers had used cash since the team stuck a message in their window on Friday.

"We appreciate their custom and if they can pay by cash we'll be glad for it," said Mr Gleed, who added that business had been tough since the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Hopefully people use cash and we can stay in our jobs," he added.

Stuart Howells/BBC Lavenham ButchersStuart Howells/BBC
The butcher opened in Lavenham in 2014 and employs a team of 10
Stuart Howells/BBC Lavenham ButchersStuart Howells/BBC
About 50% of customers paid by cash when the BBC visited the shop on Tuesday

The shop opened in 2014 and has 10 employees.

About half of its customers paid by cash when the BBC visited the shop on Tuesday.

A report by the Royal Society of Arts, published in 2022, found that only 17% of all payments in the UK were made by cash.

The research suggested 10 million people would struggle to cope in a cashless society.

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