A DISABLED Gargrave resident has taken on a major high street bank - and won.

Angered by a series of mistakes made by his bank, Graham Rushworth wrote a stern letter to Barclays informing them that in line with their own policy of charging customers for mistakes - such as when they go overdrawn or make late payments - he was charging them a fee of £30 which should be paid into his account within five days.

To his amazement, he received a polite phone call a few days later from Barclay's complaints department apologising for their mistakes and confirming that they would be happy to pay his fee.

Mr Rushworth said: "The banks are very quick to charge customers for mistakes, so I felt that it was time to give them a taste of their own medicine. I never expected to actually receive the fee; I was really just trying to make a point."

The medically retired teacher, who writes a column in the Herald, had been considerably inconvenienced when Barclays took a large direct debit payment a week early, disrupting his already restricted household budget. They then made matters worse by accusing him of not administering his account properly, spurring him to write his letter of complaint.