A question mark is hanging over the future of free "hole in the wall" cash machines outside of shops following a court battle over business rates.

A legal ruling in the Upper Tribunal upheld a decision in 2013 that ATMs built into the front of a shop should have a separate business rates bill, the Retail Gazette reports.

Not only will retailers be unable to claim £200 million in rebates for past rates paid but they also face a £206 million bill for the next five years under the business rates revaluation.

It means that small retailers and independent petrol forecourts may close ATMs or start charging for cash withdrawals.

The Retail Gazette reports that while ATMs attached to retailers are having to pay rates, the system does not apply to free-standing cash machines within stores.

But it still affects thousands of hole-in-the-wall ATMs.

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