Bank freezes Cambridge cancer charity's accounts in error

Fernando Pinha founded charity Please Take Me There to fly sick children to cancer treatment and holidays

A bank has apologised to a children's cancer charity after incorrectly freezing its account for almost a week.

Staff at Cambridge-based Please Take Me There, which flies young patients to treatment and holidays, were unable to access the account for six days.

Founder Fernando Pinho said it was "devastating" as he was unable to pay bills or deposit money, including one donation of £1,000 made in cash.

NatWest blamed an "admin error" and said compensation was being arranged.

Mr Pinha could not deposit donations for six days after a NatWest bank account was frozen in error

Mr Pinho said the error was not picked up until Wednesday morning when he tried to deposit the £1,000 donation.

He said: "I immediately went to NatWest to deposit it into the charity bank account.

"To my surprise, I was informed the accounts were blocked. I was in shock."

NatWest said the bank account was frozen in error due to a mix-up when another, similarly named company was dissolved.

NatWest apologised for the mix-up and said it would be compensating the charity

A spokesperson said: "We apologise unreservedly for an isolated administrative error, which resulted in this charity being unable to access their account for six days.

"The account is now active and we are arranging to compensate the customer for the inconvenience this error caused."

Please Take Me There has been operating as a charity since 2015 and has flown more than 7,000 children to destinations across the UK. It also works with sick children in Myanmar

Mr Pinho said he and the bank were discussing a suitable donation to the charity as compensation.