Court Battle: Pensioner takes on Bank of Ireland to keep savings

This 73-year-old pensioner, Albert Kempster, will take the Bank of Ireland (BOI) to court on Wednesday to prevent his savings being plundered.

Mr Kempster is one of around 2,000 pensioners and investors who could lose at least 80 per cent of the value of their old Bristol & West building society permanent interest bearing shares (pibs).

The BOI took over Bristol & West nearly 15 years ago, but a coalition of pensioners will argue that the move could be illegal under English law. "I feel strongly about the injustice," said Mr Kempster, who lives in Glasgow. "They're just not bothered to think we exist."

Another angry pensioner, Minoo Randeria, 74, who lives in south-west London, said that he "relies on" the generous 13.375 per cent annual payout from the pibs to cover his living expenses.

Nick Jones, a former banker who has pibs and his written to MPs to complain about the BOI's plans, said: "We're allowing a foreign government [BOI is one-third owned by the Irish state] to take money from UK pensioners."