Although Christmas feels like a long long time ago, the financial hangover from all the expensive presents, wine and food will be felt until the next pay packet comes through. But the lucky few who joined the queue at the Mansfield Woodhouse branch of Lloyds Bank in Nottinghamshire won't have to worry as they found a machine that was giving away free money.

The hole-in-the-wall developed a bit of a gremlin on Monday morning so it dispensed free money to flocks of customers. At one point there was a queue of around 60 people waiting to get their hands on some of the windfall. According to those who were there, the machine was dispensing incorrect amounts so Lloyds customers in the area got a bit of extra cash that morning.

The free for all was stopped at 3.20 in the afternoon when one honest customer told the branch about the mistake. The bank’s official response was to explain: “There was an error on the machine but at this moment we can’t say what it was.” According to the spokesmen: “It looks like it was loaded incorrectly, but as soon as we were aware we closed it off."

No one knows just how much money was taken due to the fault or whether the bank will be demanding it back from customers. Of course Lloyds will be investigating this situation and will no doubt get someone’s head on the chopping block for this costly mistake, but we’re not sure if they will be keen to pursue customers for the cash as the mistake was the banks and it create additional negative publicity for the beleaguered bank.

In the past people have been convicted of this “crime”. A couple in Essex were sentenced to a term in jail after they took £61,000 from a damaged cash machine over a 12 week period. That’s a bit more premeditated than the incident at the Lloyds Bank ATM, but it demonstrates that there’s no such thing as money for free.