He points out that credit cards are

“Persistent inflation and the cost of living crisis continued to affect households across the country and many consumers used cash to budget more effectively," said Chris Owen, payments policy adviser the BRC.The trade body wants regulators to take meaningful action on fees charged by card companies.

Small businesses have also called for banks to keep branches open, or provide adequate facilities to allow them to deposit cash.Banking data shows cash remains the second most popular payment method, after debit cards.Stricter rules on ensuring banks and building societies offer access to cash have been announced by the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

It said its new rules would require banks and building societies, when considering branch closures, to fill gaps in cash access with measures such as, ATMs and Post Office facilities.

A range of household bills are set to go up throughout April.

There is nothing much you can do if your council tax is increasing, or you are buying a house and facing a higher stamp duty bill.The closure meant 83 redundancies "many of whom have worked for the company since 2007 and some who worked for Royal Stafford Tableware prior to that".

"The directors have pursued every avenue possible to save the business, but without the guarantee of a profitable forward order book, this was not possible," the firm said.Insolvency firm Moore Recovery had placed the company into liquidation and a closing-down sale was planned.

A Grade I listed Norwich landmark - hailed as a masterpiece of Victorian gothic architecture - has been added to Historic England's Heritage at risk list.The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St John the Baptist, completed in 1910, was deemed to be at risk due to its rainwater pipes becoming "simply overwhelmed by the increased levels of rainfall in recent years".