HSBC bank has written off a customer's overdraft after a judge decided it had unlawfully imprisoned her and harassed her with hundreds of phone calls.

Josephine Lewis, from Wootton Bassett, won her civil case against the bank at Swindon County Court. Judge Tacey Cronin ruled that Miss Lewis's overdraft of £2,070 should be cancelled as HSBC had failed to meet its contractual obligations to her.

HSBC said it was sorry for the stress it had caused Miss Lewis.
Judge Cronin said the bank had failed to run Miss Lewis's account with "reasonable care and skill".

"That Miss Lewis had been been wrongfully imprisoned and had been harassed were elements of the bank's failure to abide by its obligations under the contract," said Judge Cronin. 'Unlawful imprisonment' Josephine Lewis had gone to her HSBC branch in Wootton Bassett in October 2008 to complain about the overdraft fees it had been levying on her....Read more on this story: BBC News - HSBC manager held overdrawn customer against her will