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Monday: 4pm
Rock around the clock
Peter Devine19/ 9/2007
IT was a case of the storm before the calm as hundreds of worried Northern Rock customers queued over the weekend to draw tens of thousands of pounds out of savings from the town centre Chestergate branch.
The crisis was triggered after Northern Rock went to the Bank of England for additional funds after a squeeze on borrowing money on the international money markets.
At some points this week, so many people were queueing in Stockport, that both security staff and police were drafted in to ensure there was calm, as dozens of mainly elderly people waited to withdraw their life savings.
Sandwiches and drinks were served up to customers by local cafes, as they waited to get into the branch, while other banks touted for trade.
One couple who spoke with the Stockport Express said they were planning to move to Australia to be with their grandchildren, if their savings were unaffected. On hearing this, a wise wag nearby in the queue piped up: "It would be safer under Ayers Rock!"
Meanwhile, a retired woman from Cheadle Hulme who had waited from 7.20am on Monday until shortly before midday, to withdraw her money, told us: "There was all this talk about it not going to go bust and don’t panic, but seeing £2billion being taken out you can’t be sure.
"So I have got my money out. It was a substantial sum of money which I couldn’t afford to lose."
A man from Hazel Grove who was planning to withdraw £70,000 he had saved up in the bank’s cash ISA said: "I have seen a lot of Prime Minister Gordon Brown over the foot and mouth crisis but he has not appeared once over this; if that were to happen the queues would go."
Another retired man who had been queueing from early morning said: "We were going to leave it in but after we heard the chief executive of Northern Rock on television we decided to pull it out.
"People in Stockport have a right to be angry because it’s not something that we have done. This situation is doing nothing for my dickey heart."
And a woman from Poynton added: "I decided to take all my money out. It’s just a personal choice. People have to decide for themselves."
An announcement on Monday evening by Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, giving cast iron guarantees to Northern Rock savers seemed to have pulled the bank back from the brink; with just a couple of customers still waiting Tuesday lunchtime.
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24/09/2007 at 20:46