And finally…Shut the front door! Scots bank left open

While the prevailing trend for high street banks its increasingly one of closure these days, one Scottish branch of the TSB was left left very much open over the weekend after staff forgot to lock its doors.

According to reports, baffled customers were forced to call the police on Saturday morning after workers at the branch in Uddingston apparently forgot to lock up and the end of the working day on Friday.

Although the branch on the town’s Main Street is not usually open on a Saturday, two customers attempted to use its services first thing on Saturday morning only to find it deserted when they walked in, before getting a shock when the alarm was tripped.

According to the Daily Record newspaper, warehouse worker Alfie Traynor, 22, and his friend Dean Robertson, also 22, came to deposit cash unaware that it was supposed to be shut.

After unwittingly breaking into the bank, within minutes the security alarm was tripped and the shocked pair were forced to beat a hasty retreat before calling the police, who they had to tell they had discovered the bank’s door left open and a security entrance leading to the counter area also ajar.

Alfie, of East Kilbride, said: “Dean and I work in a warehouse nearby in Bellshill, and I had a bit of banking to do.

“Although this isn’t my usual branch, I decided to go as it is the closest to work.

“The branch certainly didn’t look shut from the outside, so I pushed the front door and it opened – except when we walked in there was absolutely no one there.

“It was completely deserted but nothing looked like it had been disturbed. We didn’t know what to think. After about a minute the alarm went off.

“I started to panic and thought shutters might come down and we’d be locked in.

“At that point I noticed a door, which looked like it led to behind the counters, was lying open. I thought there must be someone inside and shouted “hello” a few times but there was no response.

“Thinking that someone had broken in and worrying we would be stuck, we went back outside.

“I poked my head through the door another few times and shouted “hello, is there anyone there” but again there was no answer, so I called the police.”

Alfie claims they waited for at least 50 minutes for police to arrive. He added: “We were just stunned.”

Dean, of Glasgow, added: “I don’t know how someone could forget to lock a bank.

“We phoned the police straight away but it took them a while to arrive which was also surprising.”

Alfie added: “When I looked up the opening times, the Uddingston branch is shut on a Saturday so all I can think is someone hasn’t locked up when they left on Friday.

“It is the first time I have walked into an empty bank that’s actually meant to be shut – that’s for sure.”

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said officers were at the scene within half an hour.

TSB area director in Uddingston Carol Stalker said: “The branch was locked correctly by our partners in Uddingston on Friday night.

“However, one of our third party contractors unfortunately did not lock the branch properly when they went in later that evening for a routine visit.

“This was a genuine mistake and we’re already taking steps to make sure this never happens again.

“We have a clear desk policy, so no customer data was left in the branch and none of our customers’ accounts have been compromised.

“We’d like to thank the gentleman who alerted the police.”