Bank left unlocked overnight

Police swooped on a Shropshire bank when a customer discovered the front door was left open - after staff forgot to lock it.

The front door of Barclays Ba-nk in High Street, Newport, was left open overnight on Saturday after a courier forgot to close it when leaving on Friday evening.

The discovery was made after an unsuspecting customer came to pay in a cheque the next morning. The bank is investigating.

The customer pushed open the door and began looking for help before noticing all the lights were switched off and the counters were empty and immediately telephoned police. After six squad cars and a riot van attended the scene, two members of staff arrived with keys and entered the building with police.

After checking that nothing had been stolen, staff locked the bank.

Spokesman for Barclays Bank Jonathan Brenchley said: "We can confirm that an incident did take place at our Newport branch.

"The front door was left open by our courier who, after collecting branch processing work for the day, forgot to close it.

"We are taking this incident very seriously and are undertaking an internal investigation.

"We would like to assure customers that nothing was taken and therefore no customers will be at risk from the incident."

Inspector Gurjit Singh, West Mercia Force Duty Inspector, said: "Around about 9.55am on September 5 officers were called to a suspicious incident in Newport.

"Police officers and Barclays bank staff made a search of the premises.

"No crime was established and the incident was concluded a short time after."