Cash machine generous to a fault

Dozens of delighted customers got an unexpected windfall when a cash machine began doling out double the requested amount.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Feb 2010, 22:04 BST
Updated 26th Feb 2010, 22:04 BST

Word spread like wildfire when an ATM at a shopping centre in Bridgend, South Wales, started giving generously.

A nearby pub doing steady afternoon trade suddenly emptied and a queue of up to 50 people rapidly appeared in front of the cash dispenser.

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Many turned up with more than one card and quickly used up their maximum daily limit – pocketing windfalls worth hundreds of pounds in the process.

The machine's unexpected largesse happened last Sunday at a Fourbuoys shop and post office at the Triangle Shopping Centre, Brackla.

Barmaid Natalie Brown, at the nearby Two Brewers pub, said within 45 minutes a police car arrived on the scene and two officers then prevented anyone else using the machine.

"There was one guy in the middle of a transaction, the police told him to stop and everyone else, about 30 people, scarpered quite quickly," she said.

A spokesman for Post Office Ltd refused to be drawn on whether any action will be taken to retrieve any of the money.