The amount of money consumers withdrew from cash machines broke through the £10 billion mark for the first time in a single month during October, figures showed today.

A record £10.03 billion was taken out of ATMs that are part of the Link network during the month.

The figure was 4.4% higher than in October last year, and also above the total amount withdrawn in December 2008 - typically the busiest month of the year.

The year-on-year increase was also double the 2% annual rise that has typically been seen so far during 2009.

The group said the record level of withdrawals during October could be a sign that consumer confidence was returning - although it added that it may also reflect the fact that people were increasingly using cash for purchases to help them budget.

Edwin Schooling Latter, managing director of Link, said: "This could be a sign of consumers' willingness to spend returning, though may also reflect some cardholders preferring to use cash to help with their budgeting.

"Up to the end of September we saw slower year-on-year growth of around 2% and October's increase is a marked jump - even the surprisingly good weather in much of the country in October may well have been a factor."

The Link network handles transactions for about 64,000 ATMs, accounting for nearly every cash machine in the UK, including ones that levy charges for withdrawals, as well as machines that are free.

It processes about 250 million transactions a month, and more than one million transactions an hour during peak periods.