Uncle Sam
05-01-2004, 04:23 PM
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9413538%255E13762,00.html
NEWS tends to spread fast in British villages, especially when the news is that the local bank's ATM is paying out twice the money requested.
The generous machine belonged to a Barclays Bank in Wooler, a small community in Northumberland, north east England, where a drawer for £10 ($18) notes had been wrongly loaded with 20s.
Within an hour of someone noticing this phenomenon, a queue had stretched most of the way down Wooler's main street, London's Daily Telegraph reported.
One woman even arrived in a taxi, still in her nightdress and curlers, and by the time the bank re-opened the next day, £65,000 ($158,418) had been withdrawn.
The landlady of the village's local pub - who, like most people quizzed by the newspaper, claimed not to have been involved personally - called it "the busiest night in Wooler for years".
Barclays announced that it will not require customers to hand over their extra cash.
"We know who took money out of the ATM, but can't pinpoint which ones have had too much money so we won't be asking for the money back," a spokesman for the bank said, adding to the town's general joy.
NEWS tends to spread fast in British villages, especially when the news is that the local bank's ATM is paying out twice the money requested.
The generous machine belonged to a Barclays Bank in Wooler, a small community in Northumberland, north east England, where a drawer for £10 ($18) notes had been wrongly loaded with 20s.
Within an hour of someone noticing this phenomenon, a queue had stretched most of the way down Wooler's main street, London's Daily Telegraph reported.
One woman even arrived in a taxi, still in her nightdress and curlers, and by the time the bank re-opened the next day, £65,000 ($158,418) had been withdrawn.
The landlady of the village's local pub - who, like most people quizzed by the newspaper, claimed not to have been involved personally - called it "the busiest night in Wooler for years".
Barclays announced that it will not require customers to hand over their extra cash.
"We know who took money out of the ATM, but can't pinpoint which ones have had too much money so we won't be asking for the money back," a spokesman for the bank said, adding to the town's general joy.