A BANKING error at a Pembrokeshire supermarket has left many shoppers unexpectedly in the red and facing potential bank charges.

The Western Telegraph has been contacted by several customers of CK’s Supermarket in St Davids who have suddenly had large amounts of money debited from their bank accounts.

People who have been using their cards to pay for goods since January 13 have found the money has not gone out at the time of purchase, but suddenly all at once on Friday, February 13.

The company’s head office has been contacted on several occasions to explain the situation, but has chosen not to comment.

Customer Joanne Deeley had £117 taken out of her account as a result of nine transactions.

“This leaves me in the red with no means of paying my £50 mobile phone bill which will then cost me even more.

“And apparently this is just half of the transactions. There are another two weeks worth heading our way.”

Joanne added: “The issue isn't with paying as we all pay as we buy of course, but it's the huge bill and total disregard for how this will affect their customers, with no warning.”

Kirsty Grimwood had £250 taken out of her account from 18 transactions.

She said: “I was lucky to have had enough money in my account to cover it, but many others didn’t. They’ve been left overdrawn and are incurring bank charges.

“What makes me angry is the fact that the company is not taking any responsibility for getting people into this predicament. People live week to week on their money and this could really knock a family for six.”

Mother-of-two Katie Price had £95 taken from her account from seven transactions and has been left overdrawn.

She said: “My direct debits have been returned and I have had to borrow money for food shopping.

“I had a meeting with the branch manager on Monday and he was extremely apologetic. I have also been in touch with Citizens Advice Bureau who told me to write to CK’s asking for a goodwill gesture for the inconvenience.”

She added: “I certainly won’t be using my card in store again.”

Another victim is a 70 year-old woman from Yr Hafan retirement housing.

Only wanting to give her first name, Elizabeth went to pick up her pension on Monday only to find she was £40 overdrawn. She has now been left broke for the week.

Customer notices have since gone up in store.

They say: “Due to a technical fault with our banking system, credit/debit cards transactions dated from the 13th January 2015 to 13th February 2015 were not debited from accounts until the 13th of February. This problem has now been resolved with our banking system. We apologise for any trouble caused.”