A handyman who was accidentally transferred £110,000 into his account and told to keep out has been left shattered after the money is taken out of his account.
Russell Alexander, 54, from Sutton, Norfolk, was wrongly told he could keep the large sum of money after started mysteriously appearing in his account.
Russell immediately discussed the mysterious transactions with Barclays and was wrongly told the money was from an inheritance and his to keep.
But following the huge blunder, nine months later, Barclays took back the money, along with an extra helping to Russell's own £6,000 cash.
Now the heartbroken grandfather has been left with a broken home, with no heating and no funds to renovate, which he blames solely on the bank's error.
And in an attempt to fix their mistake, Barclays compensated Russell with £500, to which he is "totally outraged."
He said: "I've been a loyal customer for 40 years and they clearly told me twice the money was mine to spend. I planned to renovate the house to rent out rooms on Airbnb, but I'll need to work now to earn the money and it will take years.
"I never would have bought it if I didn't have the extra money. Barclays have stolen my future plans and left me living like a stowaway."
The payments first began on December 29, 2020, with a deposit of £30,000, with the reference 'last of mums'.
Following this, another payment of £30,000 and one of £777 arrived in his account on January 15, 2021.
And after this another £50,000 landed in his account in August.
Russell claims to have been contacted by a bank worker who assured him the payments were simply inheritance money.
Following this, Russell moved into his project house on June 23, a property he bought with his separation money, after selling his B&B property to which he shared with his ex-fiance.
His £237,500 project house required major renovations, with rewiring, a new heating system and plumbing needed, which he had hoped the windfall transfers could pay for.
But tragically in September, Russell was contacted by his former business who admitted to accidentally transferring the money.
Russell contacted Barclays who quickly rectified their mistake and took the money from Russell's account as well as offering a £500 compensation, to which he is 'disgusted' by.
He said: "It made no sense to me when the money just arrived, but I checked with the bank twice and with an accountant - they all said spend it.
"I've banked with them for 40 years. I'm disgusted that this is how they treat their loyal customers.
"After giving me nine months of false hope their £500 compensation is a total insult".
A representative from Barclays has come out to apologise to Russell for the blunder, stating the error was evidently the cause of selecting the incorrect recipient but insist Russell was wrongly advised to keep the funds.
However, they maintain that the £6,000 wrongly taken out of Russell account will be returned promptly with lost interest.
Barclays has now urged their customers to report unexpected funds immediately regularly delete one-off payees from the app or online banking site to ensure mistakes like this do not happen again.
