A bank has been ordered to pay costs by a judge for wasting the court’s time in a case where a customer had sued for a refund of her overdraft charges. The bank caved in at the last minute and did not, in the event, go to court.

Judge Andrew Kearney, of Bristol County Court, ordered Lloyds TSB to pay Vivien Lloyd £85.41 because the bank had “acted unreasonably”. He said that it had never had any intention of defending in court an action brought by Lloyd for the refund of £655 in overdraft charges.

Lloyd had been angered by a delay of more than a year on the part of her bank before it agreed to pay her. Members of her family, particularly her son Gary, had put in a lot of preparation time in anticipation of the court case in which they were to sue Lloyds TSB for the ’excessive’ overdraft charges.

But, in common with many of the big banks, Lloyds TSB settled the case before a hearing to avoid setting a legal precedent that could open the floodgates to tens of thousands of people doing the same thing.

“It was very daunting – but perseverance and encouragement has made it all worthwhile,” said Gary Lloyd.