Mary Welsby insists she is very much alive

Mary Welsby, of Albrighton, Shropshire, was told her Abbey Isa account had been closed.

She battled for nine weeks to get the money back, but only received the apology after the BBC investigated.

The bank blamed the mistake on an accident and said she would receive the money back plus compensation.

Mrs Welsby said when she visited her branch to investigate, the cashier told her: "I don't really know how to tell you this Mrs Welsby but according to our records, you are dead.

'My savings'

Mrs Welsby added: "It really was quite a shock to me. I'm 77 years old, a widow, and I simply don't know how I got home from that interview.

"There's no doubt in my mind what the problem is - they have given my money away.

"I just don't want this to happen to other people - £3,000 may not be much to Abbey, but it's my savings."

When Mrs Welsby initially complained in April, the bank phoned her on 11 May to apologise and said it would investigate.

On 25 May she received a standard letter saying an inquiry would take four weeks.

But on 23 June she received another letter from Abbey saying it was not sure it "understood the problem".

Following investigations by the BBC, the bank issued a further apology and promised compensation.

Banks should not release savings of people believed dead without a death certificate.