Liberal Democrat MP for Bradford East David Ward has welcomed signs that the Payments Council may be beginning a climb down over its plans to scrap cheques but stressed the need to keep up the pressure on the banks.

Questioned by the Treasury Select Committee a representative of the Payments Council – which represents all major banks – said that they regretted the way that cheque announcement had been made. Meanwhile the Treasury have written to MPs on the Committee saying that they might consider blocking plans to abolish cheques in 2018 if suitable alternatives are not found.

Commenting, David Ward said: “The Payments Council received a brutal savaging at the hands of MPs on the Committee. I would like to think that their comments mark the start of climb down from the banks but I fear that nothing has changed.

“The banks are still pressing ahead with their plans on the ground and assurances from the Treasury are weak. The risk is that the banks will make the withdrawal of cheques a foregone conclusion before 2018 by gradually eroding the level of service which are available to their customers. We have already seen this with the scrapping of cheque guarantee cards, and some customers unable to get chequebooks with their accounts.

“We must keep up the pressure on the banks. I get letters all the time about this issue so there is clearly great strength of feeling out there. The petition to save our cheque is still getting hundreds of signatures every week; I urge people to go online and add their names.”