Published: Thursday, 9th July, 2009 10:27am

Gran stages sit-in over bank charges

by Peter Swindon

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A grandmother staged an impromptu sit-in protest at the Bank of Scotland in Lochgelly after staff refused to write-off charges.

Jean Webster was slapped with tariffs totalling £63 for exceeding her overdraft limit by £17.

When tellers refused to rescind the charges Mrs Webster decided to stage a one-woman demonstration.

She was quickly joined by a small group of supporters after telephoning her family from the bank.

Staff closed the branch at 5 pm with Mrs Webster still inside.

She said, 'They weren"t very happy. They offered me a complaint form and asked me to leave. I refused. I was ready to go to jail over this.

'I had to do something because working class people like me are getting ripped off. I"ve been with bank for 30 years, I"ve never been in the red and they still wouldn"t give me my money back.

'And if they"re doing it me they must be doing it to people who have lost jobs, putting them further into the red. I think it"s scandalous.'

The 53-year-old was eventually escorted from the premises at 6.10 pm by sympathetic police who let her off the hook.

'They were very nice. They explained to me that I wouldn"t get my money back, that it was the wrong way to go about it, but I think they agreed with me – they"re working class people too.

'By the time I left there was a crowd gathered to support me. Cars were stopping to see what was going on.'

A police spokesman said, 'We were called to Bank Street on Tuesday to the report of a customer staging a sit-in over bank charges. After she spoke with police she agreed to leave the premises. The lady committed no offence and no charges were therefore made.'

Mrs Webster has since instructed the Bank of Scotland to close her account.

'They"re saying they won"t close it until I pay the charges but they can take me to court for it - I"m not paying. They"re probably wishing they had just given me my money back now.'

A spokesman for the Bank of Scotland said, 'Customers have a responsibility to operate their accounts within the agreed terms and conditions. If customers think they may exceed their authorised overdraft they should get in touch - we will always work with the customer to try and help them.'