South Shields bank staff praised for spotting £8,000 scam

Police praised bank staff for "trusting their instincts"

Bank staff have been praised for protecting a pensioner who was falling victim to an alleged £8,000 roofing fraud.

The man, aged in his 70s, had taken out £5,000 that week and Lloyds Bank staff in South Shields became suspicious when he tried to withdraw £3,000 more.

He told them roofers working on his home urgently needed more money to complete work as it was going to rain.

Police inspected the roof and only found one tile missing and one loose.

Two men, aged 22 and 21, have been arrested on suspicion of fraud and have since been released on bail.

Staff activated a banking protocol after they became concerned on Thursday and the transaction was blocked.

"Staff trusted their instincts, picked up on the signs that something wasn't quite right and relayed these concerns to us so we were able to respond in real time and make some arrests," a Northumbria Police spokesperson said.

"Fast action from our officers also resulted in the victim being safeguarded and given bespoke advice to protect him from this happening again."