For a generation the idea of cash coming out of a hole in the wall seemed insane but that changed 48 years ago in Enfield.

On June 27 1967 On The Buses star Reg Varney made the first ever withdrawal from a cash machine, inserting a voucher, entering a four digit PIN and coming away £10 better off.

The weekend saw the 48th anniversary of this technological advance which has become an everyday, indispensible aspect of modern life.

The idea for the cash machine came from John Sheppard-Barron of De La Rue Instruments, who was frustrated to arrive a minute after his branch had closed one Saturday.

He originally envisaged a six-digit security code but after his wife said that she could not possibly remember more than 4 numbers, the Personal Identification Number (PIN) was born.

Barclays Bank in Enfield Town Centre has a plaque on the wall commemorating the momentous occasion.

Toda more than 80% of cash withdrawn from banks is obtained through cash machines.

Of the 63,000 cash machines in the UK, more than 42,000 are situated away from bank branches and the ATM has certainly come a long way since Reg Varney walked away with that first tenner.