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A call centre operator at a bank insisted he would deal only directly with the account holder – a baby.

Parents Jenny and Andrew Nicholls had called to correct an error on a saver account they had set up for six-month-old Harry.

The bank’s call operator insisted he needed to speak directly with Harry despite being told he is yet to say his first word.

The couple from Cheslyn Hay, Staffordshire, have branded it ludicrous and vowed to close the under-16s account.

Jenny, 31, called Halifax on Thursday afternoon after being notified her direct debit into Harry’s savings account had failed due to incorrect details.

She explained: “We waited in the queue and entered all the account security information then the man came on the line and said ‘Is that Mr Harry Nicholls?’

“I said no. He asked if he could talk to Harry but I said he’s a baby, he can’t talk.

“I said I’m his mum but he just said he was sorry but he couldn’t talk to me over the phone, only to the account holder.

“I said ‘are you being serious?’ I thought it was a joke at first and then he would notice it was a child’s account, but he was being serious.”

Jenny and 34-year Andrew who works as a water company manager met in their local pub 12 years ago.

They married in 2009 and Harry is their first child together.

They opened the Kids Regular Saver account to build up a nest egg for him when he grows up.

Jenny added: “It’s just daft - Harry hasn’t said his first word yet.

“They must have known he was a baby when we rang up because they had all his account details on the computer.

“He said all I could do was go in to the bank and they would have to deal with it.

“Surely if it’s an under-16s account the parent and person who set it up should be able to deal with problems.

“It’s even more hassle to go in to a bank queuing up with push chairs and babies so we’re just going to close the account.”

A Halifax spokesperson said: “We’re very sorry for Mrs Nicholls’ experience and it is clear that a mistake was made.

“Our Kids Regular Saver account cannot be managed over the phone and Mrs Nicholls should have been advised of this as soon as she called us.

“We’ll look into this to determine what went wrong.”