A FRUGAL pensioner has been sitting on a nest egg that is worth thousands after he put £120 in the bank and forgot about it for 42 years.

The modest 1965 savings that Thomas Houston had squirelled away for a rainy day could have now soared to around £7,000, thanks to interest.

Thomas, 71, of Roe Lee, Blackburn, only found out about his windfall after ex-wife Margaret discovered three of his old bank books in the bottom drawer and sent them to him.

Thomas said: "I had completely forgotten about the money. It was good of her."

Thomas put his savings in the Clydesdale Bank when he was a cattle market worker in Glasgow earning just £7 a week.

He said he thought he may need the money for a rainy day as he had just got married, and opened two accounts with £93 and four shillings (20p).

He had already started another account with £25 in 1962.

Thomas added: "It was a lot for me but I thought I would be sensible and invest my wages instead of wasting them."

Thomas had moved to Blackburn around 20 years ago, where he worked as a building site manager.

He stopped using the Clydesdale, and the money slipped his mind.

After he got his books back it seemed he wouldn't receive a penny, because the accounts were so old and only had old four-digit account numbers. The bank has since vowed to give Thomas his money back and said it would consider paying the interest, which could be anywhere up to £7,000.

He added: "I could have used the money to put a deposit on a house because prices were so cheap then. I had sold a house for £300 so that shows how much money we are talking about. But I wasn't thinking of investing in property because I had no idea prices would be anything like they are today."

He said he would probably spend the cash on replacing his 17-year-old Mazda car.

A spokesman for the Clydesdale Bank said: "Where balances exist we do return this to customers. We will work out what is due to the customer, including any interest which may be appropriate."