A NEW Mill woman has had major problems getting money back from a bank.

And even though they have put the money back into Margaret Cooper's account they have warned her they may take it back again once the investigation into the problem is finished.

Mrs Cooper's problems began on January 6 when she got a £41 refund from the Glynn Webb DIY store in Aspley.

The 64-year-old from Royds Avenue in New Mill had paid with her Lloyds TSB debit card - so the refund was made to the card and Glynn Webb gave her a receipt to prove it.

But when her next bank statement came she realised the money had not reappeared in her account.

The whole saga for the sake of just £41 has involved two trips to Glynn Webb - who insisted the money was refunded on January 6 - and four to her bank in Holmfirth along with three calls to a national Lloyds TSB centre which deals with debit card problems.

The first complaint to the bank led to staff at Holmfirth trying to solve the problem on the phone with their national centre.

That was fruitless so on the second trip her receipt and bank statement were photocopied and sent off as proof.

She said she was promised on Monday, February 13 the money would be credited back that day - but after two more trips to check it finally went in last Wednesday.

When she got home from that last trip her relief turned to dismay.

A letter from the bank had arrived at home warning her the money could be taken back out of her account again as the investigation has not finished.

She said: "I don't know what else I could have done to prove I had been refunded the money by the store.

"I had the receipt with my direct debit card number on it. But all through the trouble I had getting the money back, the bank said they were investigating where the money had gone.

"Surely they should have given me the money back and then investigated as it was clearly not my fault."

A spokeswoman for Lloyds TSB said: "Cases like Mrs Cooper's are quite rare. The root cause might have been a problem with the processing between Glynn Webb or its processing centre as the refund still hasn't reached us.

"The reason the letter says we might re-debit the account is in case the refund itself is then processed through to the account, the customer would have the money twice and we'd need to give one lot back to Glynn Webb."

She added: "We would like to offer our apologies to Mrs Cooper for any inconvenience and confusion caused."