I have been told the Brookwood branch of Sainsbury’s has cut the number of staffed check-outs and replaced them with self-service machines. 

Earlier this year Marks & Spencer announced the use of self-service check-outs for the clothing and homeware departments of some of its stores. 

“We continue to  offer customers new ways to pay to make shopping with M&S quicker, easier and more convenient,” said the firm.

I might add: “For whom?” 

I do not use the self-service tills. When by-passing them I hear the constant pinging of frustrated shoppers requiring attention. 

I have also heard one such shopper suggesting this frustration is leading to shop-lifting: when the barcode on the goods repeatedly refuses to register it is so easy, in a fit of righteous indignation, to shove said item into one’s bag and by-pass the paying bit. 

The frustration is not only aimed at the barcodes but the devices themselves, which many disabled shoppers are unable to access. 

What happens in the event of a power cut? Do both self-service and manned checkouts have to stop? If we proffer cash – real coins and notes – may we still pay and walk out of the store?

This news allows me to move smoothly – with no unidentified stuff in the bagging area – to the number of stores refusing to accept cash. 

I am delighted that in my favourite pub in Horsell there is a notice behind the bar stating cash is preferred. 

There are some ridiculous examples of cashless places. One was a public loo with a 50p charge: card only! Oh for the days when paying a penny was just that.

Cash is necessary for so many things – not just for a supermarket trolley but for slipping a couple of quid into a charity collecting box.

It is also vital in teaching children the value of money. 

It seems the worm just may be making a gentle U-turn as it was reported a while ago that millions of householders plan to shop with cash instead of card to better keep count of the pennies. 

Waving a card over a machine, and not even bothering to take a receipt, is not a good practice.

I suppose it is just one more thing we can blame on the pandemic when traders acted scared at the thought of touching filthy lucre. 

Financial experts suggest taking out a fixed amount of cash each week to help prevent you making spur-of-the-moment purchases. When you can physically see the cash in your wallet diminishing it makes you notice your expenditure, which waving a card over a machine cannot.

There is yet another way of paying without using cash: by phone app. 

Fine if you have that sort of phone. Fine if you have  sufficient charge on said phone. Fine if you have sufficient credit on it. Fine if you can get a signal. 

Arrive at a car park and discover there is no human on duty and that you can only pay on phone app. Use any of the above excuses for non-payment for parking and you will be told: “You should always ensure you have the means to pay for parking.” 

That would be fine if there was a parking ticket machine which accepted cash. This could be a very good reason for making car parks in Woking not only cashless, but cardless – indeed, payment-less. 

The price of car parking does not encourage shoppers into the town centre but even if they stay within the borough, they are staying away from the town centre. So the town centre dies a little more each day.

Banks don’t help – I have read of numerous small companies, charities and, indeed, village fetes, where most of the takings are in the form of cash. And, indeed, coinage rather than notes. And then the bank refuses to accept said coins of the realm, even closing that group’s account because they can. 

But I don’t think they should. The demand for the legal right to pay in cash is increasing. And I am delighted to write that.

Lose your card and there is a great deal of annoying paperwork to get it cancelled and a fresh one issued. Lose your cash down the sofa and either get a child with a small hand to fish around for it or turn the sofa upside down.

Or get more cash: the cash in the sofa will be as safe as the cash in the bank. 

And, in the long run, more accessible.