Woman, 91, loses account and pension after Barclays declares her dead

Bank apologises after error results in elderly woman having account closed and phone and energy cut off

An elderly widow was cut off from her money for three months and lost her phone line and energy supply when a banking error by Barclays marked her as deceased.

Ninety-one-year-old Marjorie Roper* discovered that her pension and benefits payments had been stopped and her direct debits cancelled after a Barclays agent recorded that she had died and closed her account.