Playhouse perplexed by banking bungle

Alnwick Playhouse says its name is wrongly appearing as a payee on people's bank statements

An arts venue says it is worried for its reputation after its name wrongly appeared as a payee on a number of bank statements.

Alnwick Playhouse in Northumberland has been contacted by customers of Virgin Money who have never visited the venue but whose bank accounts show transactions there.

Virgin Money has apologised for the confusion caused by the mislabelling of some transactions.

Earlier this month, Northumberland Zoo said customers of Nat West experienced a similar problem affecting its business.

Martyn and Ruth Davies were sure they had never visited Alnwick Playhouse but had transactions on their banking app in its name.

Ruth and Martyn Davies, from Tollerton, North Yorkshire, were among those affected.

Mr Davies said: "It was puzzling and confusing because we've never set foot in Alnwick Playhouse.

"We were pretty sure they were in fact purchases we had made at Yorkshire Trading Company in Alnwick while on holiday.

"The sums were identical, but we just couldn't understand what was happening or why."

It is thought purchases made at Yorkshire Trading were appearing on statements as Alnwick Playhouse Arts

Alnwick Playhouse has confirmed it has been contacted by about 10 customers, mostly in the last month, and all seemed to have made purchases at Yorkshire Trading Company and bank with Virgin Money.

A spokesperson for the venue said: "Generally speaking people have been quite understanding.

"But we don’t want people to think they’re being scammed so obviously we’d like to see it resolved."

James Daley, from Fairer Finance, described the issue as "frankly embarrassing for the banks".

“This is obviously a technical issue which is causing unnecessary anxiety and is costing the businesses and the banks time and money.

"There is a growing awareness of scams these days so customers are really alert and this stuff doesn’t help."

In a statement Virgin Money said it had apologised to Mr and Mrs Davies adding: "We’re continuing to work closely with our partner, who processes merchant names to make them easier for customers to understand, to avoid this happening again.”