ANOTHER customer has blasted the Abbey bank after fraudsters siphoned money out of his account.

York painter and decorator Jeff Gooding says that after more than £200 was removed from his Abbey account, the bank first refused to give him a small overdraft to tide him over and then failed to give him a replacement card.

He also claims he has been charged £140 over four direct debits which bounced after his account went into arrears because of the fraud.

Mr Gooding, from Clifton, is the third Abbey customer from the York area to criticise the bank in recent weeks.

Nicola Chapman, of Burnholme, was promised £100 as a goodwill gesture after she fell victim to credit card cloners who took £2,000 from her account, but the money never arrived. The bank then said the £100 would be paid within days.

Earlier this week, The Press reported how three debit cards and three top secret PIN numbers had been sent over three months to Lee Wilson's home in Full Sutton, despite him repeatedly calling the bank to inform it of the errors.

The cards were intended for a woman who lived there more than six years ago.

The Abbey apologised for the error, which it said was caused by a major upgrade of its banking system.

Mr Gooding discovered he had fallen victim to fraudsters earlier this month when he went to a cashpoint to withdraw some money, only to find to his amazement that he was in debit.

He said he phoned the Abbey straight away and it stopped the card. He went into its York branch the following day, where he asked for a small temporary overdraft to tide him over, but was refused.

He said he would have been stuck had his boss not agreed to give him his next pay in cash.

The Abbey then agreed to send a new card to the branch for him to pick up, but it failed to arrive and he was told he might have to wait another fortnight for it.

"I think Abbey has handled the matter badly and I'll be leaving it when this matter is sorted out," he said.

A bank spokeswoman said that Mr Gooding's debit card had been ordered on January 4 and dispatched the following day, but was never received by him.

"A new card has been ordered and should be with Mr Gooding shortly," she said.

"With regards to the reported fraud on Mr Gooding's account, we have discussed this with him and he is aware that we require the documentation he now has to be sent to us, when we can then refund the money taken from his account.

"We will also refund the charges Mr Gooding has incurred, as this fraud has caused an unauthorised overdraft through no fault of his."