Bank drops claim after £47,000 error

It was the bank error of which we all dream. Linda Parish's bank erroneously put £47,000 into her bank account and then refused to take it back when she told staff about it.

But despite her honesty, Ms Parish, a chauffeur, said yesterday she had been arrested for theft and pursued for £15,000 for legal fees after she had spent some of the money.

Ms Parish, 50, tried to point out the error five times after the money she made from the sale of her home was duplicated in another account she held with Lloyds TSB in 2001.

But the bank refused to move the money, she said. "They told me my account had been checked back to January, there was no mistake and the money was mine. So I told them that if it was not out of my current account before the end of the week, I would spend it. But they said: 'It is your money to spend, Mrs Parish'."

Ms Parish said she bought a house in Cambridgeshire, only to receive a demand from her bank for £47,000 plus interest a few weeks later. She was arrested and charged and her accounts frozen.

The criminal case against her was dropped at Reading Crown Court last Friday, but Ms Parish said she had been forced to pay back the money, plus more than £7,000 in interest.

Lloyds TSB said it had waived its claim for legal fees as a "goodwill gesture".