Shoppers livid as Barclays crashes

Thousands of Barclays customers in Britain were unable to get into their bank accounts or withdraw money from cash machines yesterday after a nationwide system crash.

The problems, which began around noon, hit telephone and online banking services and caused frustration at retail outlets as embarrassed shoppers had to abandon purchases at the tills.

Barclays' telephone centres were inundated with calls from customers, many angry at the lack of information from the bank. A spokeswoman said: "We apologise to customers for any inconvenience." The problems were continuing last night.

The latest malfunctions follow disruption in June last year, when five million customers were unable to withdraw cash from ATMs.