TSB judgement is set aside

THE HIGH COURT has set aside a judgment that TSB should pay pounds 12.5m to a former customer who claims the bank has not returned share and bond certificates he lodged with one of its branches.

Last month, Sayeed Hussein was granted an order forcing TSB to pay on the grounds that it had not defended his claim. But the bank said last week that it had submitted a defence that had been overlooked.

The court ordered a trial within three months and gave Mr Hussein leave to file full details of his claim, with TSB to reply within 14 days.

Mr Hussein said: 'The bank has not complied with the rules of the court, but I do not want to take the bank's money without giving them an opportunity to defend themselves. In four years, they have not been able to produce a defence to the claim made by me.'

Mr Hussein says he left share and bearer bond certificates with TSB in 1987, which he later discovered were far more valuable than he had realised. He says they were not all returned. TSB said his claim was groundless.