A SECURITY failure caused a major Bolton town centre bank to keep its doors closed to customers for most of yesterday.

Hundreds of people arrived to find the HSBC in Deansgate closed as workmen battled to repair the bank's alarm system.

Manager Phil Hawker took the decision not to open the doors as usual at 9.30am after the alarm system was found to be faulty.

Mr Hawker, who has never come across a similar problem in his 20 years in banking, said: "I took a decision for security reasons and for the safety of staff and customers not to open."

Staff were posted outside the bank explaining the problems to customers, who could still draw cash from the hole-in-the-wall machine. And rival bank the Nat West on the opposite side of Deansgate came to their aid by running a till service for HSBC customers to pay in cheques and draw money.

The alarm fault was unrelated to the refurbishment of the branch which is currently under way and should be completed this weekend. The bank eventually opened at 3pm.