Norwich MP Simon Wright has backed calls in Parliament to prevent the death of the cheque.

The Norwich South Liberal Democrat MP this week attended a meeting with parliamentarians regarding the future of cheques, and has signed up his support for a parliamentary motion opposing their withdrawal.

In December last year, the Payments Council set a date of October 31 2018 to close central cheque clearing, but Mr Wright said many still rely on them.

But Mr Wright raised the issue with the Payments Council after being contacted by concerned families and a small charity in Norwich.

He said: 'Millions of pounds worth of transactions are made using cheques each day and more people use cheques than electronic banking.

'The elderly, small businesses and voluntary organisations are still highly dependent on this method of payment.

'The Federation of Small Business has highlighted the problems this will cause for many small firms.

'It will add insult to injury if the big banks, who make up the Payments Council, end up making life harder for small businesses.'

He added four million cheques are written every day in the UK.