MOST people tend to find they get lots of copper in their change when out shopping, 2ps and 1ps and those irritating little 5ps.

May I give a word of warning to anyone who collects this change and then tries to change it at the bank.

Although this copper is legal currency if you take it to the Abbey Bank in Lancaster they will refuse to change it!

I had saved £20 in coins and took it to the bank, where I have two accounts. Rather than put into my account I asked to change it. I did this over the course of several days as £20 of one and two pence pieces weighs too much to do it in one go.

Each time I had hassle over changing the coins and on one occasion I was even accused of being a criminal! I was told that changing £5 of 2p coins was 'money laundering' and not acceptable!

What sort of society are we living in when banks are not prepared to change legal tender and humiliate honest people instead?

Perhaps they think that anyone wanting to change copper is a poor individual and not worth the effort. It's the sort of attitude I thought had died out with the Thatcher era.

Chris Amriding, Lancaster