Published: Wednesday, 10th March, 2010 6:00pm

Moate ATM short of cash over crime fear

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Moate ATM users are being left short of cash as a result of concern over recent criminal activity.

In recent months locals reported that cash machines were often running out of money, particularly during busy periods such as weekends and bank holidays.

The Bank of Ireland ATM at its branch in the town has been out of service on numerous occasions, including last weekend.

In response to a Westmeath Independent query about the Moate ATM, the bank confirmed that it reduced the amount of money it was putting into the machine following recent events.

"As a result of recent criminal activity, Bank of Ireland has taken the decision to temporarily reduce the amount of cash available in a number of its machines," said a spokesperson for the bank.

"We understand the impact that this has on customers and local communities and apologise for any inconvenience caused by this action."

The spokesperson added that Bank of Ireland was "constantly reviewing the potential threats to our ATM network and making efforts to minimise the length of time that our ATMs are without cash."

One Moate resident said that the ATM cash shortages had been apparent for some time.

"It is a cause of complaint locally. At this stage it's happened often enough to annoy people," the resident stated.

When contacted by this paper, AIB bank, which also operates an ATM machine, said that during the first two months of this year the ATM at its Moate branch had been in service for over 99% of the time.