A DISABLED man was without money for three days after a cash machine wrongly debited him double the amount he withdrew.

Carl Lowson, aged 48, who has mobility problems, told how he was left embarrassed at the till when his card was declined as he tried to pay for food at a supermarket on Saturday, May 12

He was one of a number of people affected by the fault.

Mr Lowson discovered that when he had withdrawn £100 using the ATM at Asda in Astley Bridge the previous Wednesday, an extra £100 had been taken.

He was finally refunded the money on Tuesday evening after contacting both Barclays, which he says operates the cash machine, and his bank, Cashplus

Mr Lowson, who lives in Astley Bridge, said: "It was embarrassing not being able to pay for the food.

"I couldn't pay for the taxi home and had to walk. I had booked a taxi to the supermarket but Metro were understanding and I was able to pay later.

"I had no food in the house and do not have any family around here and I live on my own. I was worried the electricity and gas would run out and I wouldn't be able to pay for it. I had to live on beans until the money was refunded.

"I got a text message from my bank that the money had been taken out in error by the ATM provider and they were working to get this reversed as soon as possible.

"I didn't get my money back until Tuesday night. I don't know why it took so long and that money went."

A spokesman for Cashplus said: "Unfortunately, we can’t comment on the specifics of this customer’s query due to Data Privacy Regulations.

"However, we can disclose that we were made aware of an issue affecting a small number of our customers, who had a duplicate transaction taken for an ATM withdrawal by Barclays Bank.

"Once we learnt of the issue we immediately alerted the relevant service providers who contacted the ATM provider directly. We worked throughout the weekend to ensure the matter was escalated to the highest levels within Mastercard and our card process for urgent remedy."

A spokesman for Barclays said, "We're aware a small number of non-Barclays customers may have experienced duplicate withdrawals. We can confirm this problem has now been fixed and apologise to any customers that were impacted."