Tens of thousands of businesses on the high street went cashless last year - with 14 per cent opting to no longer accept physical money in the past 12 months. 

Despite vast numbers moving away from accepting cash, it remains a vital way to pay in the shops for millions of people without access to digital payments, a new report from ATM network LINK says. 

In retailers such as independent shops cafés and pubs, convenience stores, and launderettes, cash usage is still high -  nearly half of payments in these businesses are still cash-based, the report shows.

But with the majority of Britons now comfortable paying with cards, phones and even watches, cash makes up fewer than 10 per cent of payments made in shops. 

Small retailers have had to move with the times and adapt to more customers paying with contactless and digital payment methods

But many businesses do want to still accept cash - nearly half of businesses on the high street said they want to protect the choice to accept cash in the future, and more than half believe the decline in cash use is harmful to the high street.

More than half of businesses would support mandating cash acceptance. 

However, many retailers worry about fraud and security when it comes to accepting cash. 

The biggest driver for a business to go cashless was fraud prevention, which 20 per cent said they were worried about. That's despite modern-day bank notes having far more security features. 

A lack of access to cash deposit facilities is also a big barrier to accepting cash for high street businesses. 

Four-in-five small and medium businesses on the high street say they would value better access to deposit facilities, such as Post Offices and banking hubs. 

More than three quarters of small and medium sized retailers still accept cash, as card payments are expensive to manage. 

Nick Quin, chief corporate affairs officer at LINK says: 'This shows that we must continue to give businesses the option to bank their cash locally, and keep a close eye on acceptance. 

'But is also shows that businesses are committed to allowing people the choice of how to pay.' 

The cost of handling cash is a major concern to a quarter of businesses, with 46 per cent paying over £50 per month just to handle deposits and 15 per cent paying more than £200 per month. 

In response to the findings, LINK has recommended that the Treasury should regularly monitor cash acceptance in shops and not just access to cash. 

It also wants the Government to ensure businesses on the high street continue to have access to practical and safe cash handling through a network of banking hubs, Post Offices, and deposit-taking ATMs. 

Chris Owen, payments policy adviser at the British Retail Consortium, said: 'Cash is an important form of payment for a sizeable minority of the population, representing almost 20 per cent of all transactions. 

'Retailers are guided by their customers and are committed to continuing to accept cash as a form of payment.'

Has your favourite shop stopped accepting cash or are you a business owner encouraging use of physical money? editor@thisismoney.co.uk