THE Abbey agony deepened in East Lancashire today as thousands of investors continued their stampede on the bank.

Former National and Provincial savers have jammed local branches to get their hands on big cash handouts awarded to society members following the takeover by the Abbey National.

And the result has been chaos. Branches in Burnley, Pendle and Blackburn have been packed solid since the Abbey announced the payments, averaging about £1,200 per customer, had been credited to accounts last week.

Queues formed in the street before 9am opening in Parker Lane, Burnley, as savers flocked to have the "free cash" entered into their passbooks, or simply to grab the loot.

Five minutes later more than 40 people were waiting in line. It was a similar story at the Briercliffe, Colne and St James's Street, Burnley, branches with queues snaking through the branches and into the streets.

Hundreds of angry former N and P customers turned away rather than wait up to an hour for service. One said: "It has been like this for days. It doesn't matter what time you come, it is the same - packed to the doors. It is terrible."

It was a similar story last month when the Abbey took control and former building society customers flocked in to pick up new passbooks.

Problems were compounded at the St James' s Street branch on Tuesday morning.

Customers waited for more than 30 minutes in queues only to be told at the counter that the computer was down and only saving and withdrawal services could be transacted.

An Abbey spokeswoman today apologised for the long queues, but insisted the problems were improving. She said: "There have been longer queues than normal, but these have been one-off events. It has been a learning curve for ex-N and P staff who have had to adapt to a new computer system very quickly. We can only apologise for the problems."

The switch to the Abbey habit has hit the pound in former N and P customers' pockets when they use their bank Link cards at non-Abbey hole-in-the-wall cash machines.

Last month an Abbey spokesman told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph the free service offered to N and P customers would not attract a charge under the Abbey regime.

But the cash machines screens in the bank's own branches now tell customers in blue and yellow that a £1 levy will be made if savers use non-Abbey outlets to withdraw money.

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