Briton locked inside closed bank

A bank patron in Manchester, England, said he was locked inside the building for an hour and a half after he walked in while the bank was closed.

Jay Whitmarsh said he walked through the HSBC bank's unlocked door Saturday, thinking the abandoned building's employees had temporarily stepped outside, but realized something else was afoot when the door latched behind him and wouldn't reopen, The Daily Mail reported Monday.

I tried all the buttons and tried releasing the lock, but it wouldn't budge, Whitmarsh said. I didn't have my mobile on me to call anyone, but they have these red phones on the wall for telephone banking so I rang through and got hold of a fella.

Whitmarsh said an employee eventually arrived to release him and his pet Labrador, Sumi, from the building.

I did take it in good heart and HSBC have offered me a full apology and compensation, but the repercussions could have been horrendous if things had turned out differently, he said. What would I have done if there was a fire, how would I have got out?

The incident was the third in nearly as many weeks involving a customer entering an HSBC branch through an unlocked door while the bank was closed. The company said the incidents were being investigated.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International