A branch of one personal and business bank account provider had to be guarded by its own bank customers after it was found unlocked and left that way for nearly three hours, sources say.
The Barclays branch in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, was left open to passers-by one recent Saturday afternoon. Both the route to the vault and the cashiers’ service area had been left unattended and open, something that had remained undiscovered until a customer had entered the branch and found no staff present to help him withdraw some cash.
The entire bank in The Broadway had been left without Barclays staff, something that customer Lesley Phillips and two others investigated further and discovered egregious error.
Phillips and company first discovered the branch had been left unlocked at about 2 PM. The police took over about one hour later, yet it wasn’t until 6 PM when security staff from Barclays became directly responsible for the building.
Leigh native Lesley Phillips remarked that the entire place was open and was astounded to see no staff were in attendance. Ms Phillips related how the branch had no type of preventative measures in place for anywhere from the cashier to the vault.
Thinking that staff members might have been in trouble or might have possibly collapsed, the three Brits immediately phoned the police and decided to keep guard over the branch until the authorities arrived. Nobody picked up at Barclays when the customers attempted to get them on the line, it was said.
Ms Phillips remarked how absolutely disgusted she felt regarding the situation, especially in light of her status as a Barclays customer. The woman said that she’s considering changing to another financial services provider because of it, even though she’s been a Barclays customer for more than three decades.