IT is the stuff of dreams. You visit the cashpoint, key in the amount you want, and the machine starts churning out free £20 notes.

The normally honest folk of Wooler, in Northumberland, could not believe their eyes when the Barclays Bank cash machine paid out twice as much as every customer asked for.

Word quickly spread, and soon a lengthy queue built up as people waited to get their hands on a small fortune.

One woman arrived by taxi. When word reached her she had not had time to dress so she dashed out in her nightdress and curlers - plastic card gripped tightly in hand, her face a mask of grim determination.

When staff examined security camera footage they even spotted honour among thieves.

People in the queue were permitted a couple of goes before moving to the back again and letting someone else get in on the bonanza.

People who withdrew the maximum daily amount from their accounts even returned at a minute past midnight to have another dip in the cash machine.

By the time the bank sent out a specialist to sort out the problem, residents had withdrawn more than £65,000.

The day the cash machine went mad has become known as "Golden Wednesday".

Red-faced bank officials admitted last night that the unexpected pay-outs had been caused when staff swapped a cassette containing £10 notes with one containing £20 notes.

Because they cannot identify the customers who helped themselves, it seems everyone has got away with it.

"We know who took money out of the machine," said a Barclays spokesman.

"But we can't be certain who took too much money so we won't be asking for it back. Anyhow, we are covered for losses because it was a mistake by a third party."

Securicor, the company that changed the cassettes, said it was not responsible. It blamed another company for handing its men the wrong cassette.