How widespread are cash machines that charge you to use them?

Their numbers have grown rapidly in recent years.

Last month Sainsbury's Bank said in a study that the number of ATM cash machines that charge had grown 13 times in the past three years, to more than 11,000.

Machines have been sprouting up in garages, shops and even pubs across the UK.

In general, they are operated by independent firms through the Link network, rather than the big banks and building societies.

Why so many machines?

Initially, the banks and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) welcomed the introduction of new fee-charging ATMs.

People in rural areas who had been hit by the closure of bank branches would at least have access to their cash, the thinking went.

But - as the numbers increased - the new machines started appearing in non-rural areas, even next to traditional free-to-use ATMs.

"You will often find one of these in a garage or a service station next to free machines and consumers don't know the difference until it is too late. They are seen as a cash cow" Jackie Lawrence of Nationwide Building Society said.

At present, some machines charge up to �1.40 for a cash withdrawal of only �10.

I used one of these ATMs in a garage yesterday and it warned me that a charge would be levied, so what new protection do the changes offer me?

You are right, as a rule of thumb cash machines which charge already issue a warning.

But this warning often occurs near the end of the process.

The customer has already committed themselves to withdrawing the cash and are often not inclined to cancel when they see the warning.

The new rules will see warning messages issued before someone has put their card in the slot, either on-screen or in the form of a label on the front of the ATM.

However, there is no provision in the new rules for customers to be told how much they are being charged.

Has the change been made because of customer complaints?

Although consumer groups have noted growing unease at the proliferation of ATMs which charge, the main impetus for the change has come from some of the banks and building societies.

Nationwide Building Society has long been vocal in its criticism of ATM charges.

Three years ago it backed consumer groups in a high profile campaign to get big banks to stop charging customers for using their cash machines.

Back then, banks were keen on introducing 'disloyalty' charges for customers who used rivals cash points.

But they backed down after a storm of public protest.

The explosion in independent ATMs has been criticised for introducing a culture of charging for cash withdrawals by stealth.

Nationwide has led the calls for warnings to be introduced.