It's rare that banks give away money – but one gave some to Chris Allan.

Eastern Daily Press: Chris Allan at his motorbike workshop in Cranworth. Chris was given an extra £5000 in a bank error when he collected some money for bike parts from Barclays at Dereham Picture: DENISE BRADLEYChris Allan at his motorbike workshop in Cranworth. Chris was given an extra £5000 in a bank error when he collected some money for bike parts from Barclays at Dereham Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2016)

The motorcycle restorer popped into Barclays in Dereham on Tuesday to collect £6,000 in cash for parts and went on to hand over the money later that day.

But the next morning a worried phone call from the bank told him he had been given £5,000 too much and asked him to return the money.

Mr Allan was left worrying about what he could do.

'When they said they had given me £11,000 I thought there must have been a mistake, they can't have done, it's impossible,' said Mr Allan, who lives in Cranworth.

'I said I had already bought some stuff with it and that I had the receipt for the money here.

'I actually thought it was some kind of scam at first.

'At that moment I was thinking about a lot of things – did they give me the money, what might happen and so on. I think I was just in shock really.'

Fortunately for Mr Allan, however, when he opened his curtains moments later his business contact was standing outside with an envelope.

Mr Allan said: 'It was probably only three minutes after the call.

'When I opened the curtains there's the man who I gave the money to. He said 'you've given me way too much'.

'He was in a bit of a hurry and when I went to my wallet to give him some money to buy a drink as a thank you he said 'no' and off he went.'

After a cup of tea to calm his nerves Mr Allan, 65, headed back to Dereham to return the cash.

He was given £50 by the bank to thank him for his honesty.

A Barclays spokesman said: 'We have apologised to our customer for the inconvenience caused when our cashier gave him the wrong amount of money when he visited the branch this week.

'We would like to thank him and his contact for their honesty in returning the funds.'

Mr Allan said: 'I do something like this every now and again and I have to admit I probably haven't counted the money too many times over the years.

'Everyone reacts in different ways.

'My reaction was to return the money right away because I don't want any aggravation or trouble.'

Has this ever happened to you? Email doug.faulkner@archant.co.uk

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