Slow-moving post office queues could soon be a thing of the past for travellers buying holiday cash.

The Post Office is trialling ATMs that allow customers with debit or credit cards to pick up euros or dollars. Exchange rates will match those at counters, and if the scheme - which is being tested at 13 branches - is a success, it will be rolled out nationwide.

“It will take the pressure off queues,” said Helen Warburton, Post Office head of travel. “It will be much more convenient.”

Some airports already have euro/dollar exchange machines and Marks & Spencer introduced foreign currency ATMs at 21 stores in January, while HSBC is bringing them in at railway stations and shopping malls.

People who use airport machines “pay a higher rate for that”, according to Warburton. However, M&S, like the Post Office, offers a commission-free service. An M&S spokeswoman said: “We hope that people nipping in for sandwiches will start getting their holiday money.”

A comparison of exchange rates offered by the Post Office and M&S this week showed that M&S had a slight edge with the pound fetching $1.89, three cents more than the Post Office, while a pound came to ¤1.21 at M&S, two cents more.

Both had better rates than the traditional bureaux de change at Heathrow provided by Travelex, which also charges a £3 commission. Travelex has some airport euro/dollar ATMs, which will “offer the same rates as our counters”, said a spokeswoman.

People who use cards in overseas cash dispensers can pay as much as 5.25per cent commission.

At the Trafalgar Square Post Office, where an exchange ATM was installed this week, Yvonne Tansley, 35, a theatre box office manager from London who was about to go to Ibiza, said: “I have taken out some pounds to change into euros. If I'd known about the ATM, I would have used it.”

EURO 2008 The Austrian tourist board is going against usual advice for football fans without tickets by urging them to attend Euro 2008. Supporters can visit free “fan zones” in Vienna, Innsbruck, Salzburg and Klagenfurt, where games are shown on giant screens surrounded by stalls selling bratwurst, pretzels and beer. Details: www.euro2008.uefa.com

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