Barclays will shut the ATM at 1 Station Road on or after 11 December. LINK found no gap in Lewes and stopped at step one of three. Reviews close 13 October.

The cash machine outside Lewes railway station is due to close. Barclays expects to shut the ATM at 1 Station Road, BN7 2YY, on or after 11 December 2026.

That date is not in a press release. It is in the cash access assessment LINK published on 15 September, which every ATM closure now triggers.

LINK found no problem. Its assessment stopped at step one of a three-step process, and it is recommending no replacement service in Lewes.

Anyone who disagrees has until Tuesday 13 October to ask LINK to look again. That is 28 days from the decision, the window LINK’s own document sets.

LINK is the body the banks fund to keep a reasonable cash machine network going. Since 18 September 2024 it has had to assess cash access whenever a branch or an ATM closes.

Its process has three steps, set out in the assessment itself:

  • Step one: check what cash services already exist within one mile in an urban area, or three miles in a rural one, and whether they can handle the demand.
  • Step two: assess the impact of the closure, including on vulnerable account holders and on businesses depositing takings. This step “can include a site visit”.
  • Step three: recommend whatever new services are needed to fill the gaps.

The Lewes assessment never got past step one. In LINK’s words, the process “stopped at Step 1, and we are not recommending the provision of any new cash access services in Lewes at this time”.

The reason given is that there are already services within a mile which suit the area, or that the shortfall “does not cause a significant impact”.

The document does not name a single one of them. It lists categories instead: free cash deposit and withdrawal for personal accounts, business cash services taking a reasonable mix of notes and coins, a Post Office, a building society, and a withdrawal ATM. It says there is “at least one of each” and in some cases more.

This is the second Lewes assessment in a year

The Station Road machine is not the first. LINK ran an assessment for the town on 24 September 2025, when Lloyds Bank confirmed it would close its branch at 8 High Street, BN7 2AD.

Assessment Facility Address Published Closes Outcome
Branch closure Lloyds Bank 8 High Street, BN7 2AD 24 Sep 2025 19 Jan 2026 No additional services
ATM closure Barclays 1 Station Road, BN7 2YY 15 Sep 2026 on or after 11 Dec 2026 No additional services

Both assessments used the same postcode for the town, BN7 2LU. Both concluded that nothing needed replacing. The Lloyds branch closed in January.

The councillors’ objection

Two Green Party district councillors for Lewes Priory ward, Graham Clews and Paul Keene, said on 22 September that they are appealing the decision and have written to Barclays asking it to reconsider.

Councillor Keene’s objection goes to the step-one finding: “The LINK assessment didn’t even get beyond stage one of its own three-stage process. They just looked at whether there was another ATM in Lewes, and didn’t consider the wider banking picture in the town.”

Councillor Clews said the closure would leave “only one other 24-hour town centre cash machine, at Nationwide”, and that visitors arriving by train would have no convenient way to draw cash for the town’s shops, cafes and pubs.

We have not independently verified the count of 24-hour machines in the town centre, and LINK’s assessment does not publish one.

Key dates for the Lewes Station Road cash machine Timeline: LINK published its assessment on 15 September 2026, requests for a review close on 13 October 2026, LINK completes any review within twelve weeks, and Barclays expects to close the machine on or after 11 December 2026. 1 Station Road, Lewes: the dates that matter Barclays ATM closure and the LINK review window 15 Sep 13 Oct 12 weeks 11 Dec LINK assessment published last day to ask for a review LINK finishes any review by then machine closes on or after Outcome: no replacement service recommended. LINK stopped at step 1 of its 3-step assessment process. Source: LINK cash access assessment, 15 September 2026 · Graphic by The Lewes Post

What it means for you

If you use that machine, plan for it to go in December. The assessment gives no firmer date than “on or after 11 December 2026”, so it could slip later, not earlier.

If you want LINK to think again, the rules are narrow and the deadline is close:

  • You have until 13 October, 28 days from the 15 September decision.
  • You need a reason to care about cash access in the area. Living, working or trading here counts.
  • A general objection is not enough. LINK will only review if you give it “new information that we didn’t know about and that could change the result”, or point out “mistakes in our initial decision that could change the result”.
  • Put it in writing. Email accesstocash@link.co.uk, or write to Link Scheme Ltd (Cash Access Request), Central House, Otley Road, Harrogate, HG3 1UF. There is also a form on LINK’s assessments page: search for “Lewes” and use the “Appeal this decision” link next to the Barclays entry.
  • LINK will finish any review within twelve weeks and publish the result on its website.

One thing worth knowing if you are writing: LINK says its remit covers cash only. It states plainly that it does “not consider access to more complex banking needs, as they are beyond our remit”. An objection about losing a bank, rather than losing cash, will not land.

Related: parking in Lewes and Lewes train times to London.

Sources