Sports club take Lloyds to ombudsman for being 'debanked' after 74 years as loyal customer

Published: 15:46, 2 July 2026 | Updated: 15:48, 2 July 2026 Britain’s new debanking rules are to be tested in a case before the Financial Ombudsman after a 134-year-old sports club was locked out of its account by Lloyds Bank. Walsham le Willows Sports Club in Suffolk, which hosts cricket and football, had been with the bank for more than 70 years when it was ordered to send information, including certified identification of key members. Eight months of ‘hell’ followed, during which there was a merry-go-round of further information being demanded, while questions about why the investigation was taking place were ignored until, ultimately, its two accounts were closed. The debanking – which followed a visit to a branch that refused to help and two letters to the bank’s chairman, which were ignored – plunged the charity into crisis as direct debits bounced, grants failed to come through and VAT refunds couldn’t be credited. Lloyds finally opened a new account for the volunteer-run club and deposited £300 in compensation after treasurer Ian Campbell MBE lodged a formal complaint. But he refused to accept that as sufficient for the problems the club had suffered and referred the case to the Financial Services Ombudsman, which is now investigating. ‘From September [last year] onwards it was a bloody nightmare. I didn’t know if I was just being incompetent or whether I was just not getting through to people,’ Mr Campbell told the Mail. ‘The big frustration was the sudden lack of communication. I didn’t get answers back. Why – what had I done wrong? Walsham le Willows Sports Club in Suffolk, which hosts cricket and football, had been with Lloyds for more than 70 years when it was debanked ‘It’s quite reasonable to be asked some questions but this was a sledgehammer to crack a nut.’ The 83-year-old, who said the experience was ‘equivalent to being treated like a criminal’, added: ‘I didn’t understand what actually the club had engaged in to warrant this treatment.’ The issue of de-banking came to public attention after Reform leader Nigel Farage clashed with Nat West after it closed his account with upmarket bank Coutts in June 2023. He was paid an unspecified sum in March last year following the decision, which cost Nat West chief executive Dame Alison Rose her job. New protections for bank customers came into force in April this year that require banks to give 90 days’ notice and a written explanation before closing account. But critics have warned they only cover accounts opened after that date, leaving millions with older accounts unprotected. More than 450,000 accounts were closed in Britain last year – up nearly ten-fold on a decade previously. Meanwhile, complaints to the Ombudsman about debanking have soared to 3,858 in 2023/24 – the most recent statistics available. This is up 69 per cent on three years previously. Treasurer Ian Campbell, 83, said the experience of dealing with the bank was ‘equivalent to being treated like a criminal The rise has been blamed on the loss of local branch managers, who were familiar with their customers, and the impact of online banking on older people who are not confident using online services. The club, which has a cricket pavilion, was founded in 1892 and began banking with Lloyds in 1952 following a merger with a football club. Today, it has up to 24 youth teams in both sports and boasts numerous district titles and cups. Facilities include four grass pitches, an artificial grass pitch, a tennis court and car park. Problems began in June last year, when the club received a message about its status through the banks secure messaging system. Mr Campbell, who had been running the accounts since 2009, didn’t think it looked genuine and dismissed it as spam. It wasn’t until September that a demand was received to produce a variety of documents or face having the accounts closed within 28 days. ‘We then had a sequence of communication backwards and forwards – them asking for information, me supplying information,’ he said. The club has up to 24 youth teams in cricket and football and boasts numerous district titles and cups  ‘We reached an impasse around December or January when we had to supply information on three trustees who had nothing to do with the bank accounts. ‘They wanted formal identification which had to be certified by an accountant or solicitor but they rejected one. They wouldn’t tell me why.’ He tried speaking to someone at a Lloyds branch but was told it no longer dealt with business accounts. On April 22 this year, the club’s two accounts – a trading account for the bar and a separate one covering the rest of the organisation – were suddenly closed. The financial limbo not only prevented payments coming in and going out but also blocked access to information held online, such as account numbers and other vital details. Mr Campbell, the former director of a pig breeding company, wrote to Lloyds chairman Sir Robin Budenberg on May 6 and sent another letter by recorded deliver a week later but received no response. The formal complaint process was then started and the new account opened with £300 compensation deposited into it on May 21. He rejected the payment, describing it as ‘a smack in the face’ considering the reputational damage suffered by the club and amount of work that had gone into resolving the situation. Mr Campbell with footballers on the grounds of the club, which was founded in 1892 The process with the Ombudsman can take place in up to two stages. A ruling is made after an initial investigation and, if the customer is still unhappy, that is reviewed and a legally binding final decision provided. Only the latter is made public and that is in an anonymised form. Mr Campbell said the club had opened a trading account with Virgin Money following the ordeal and he was considering whether to move the other account from Lloyds, whatever the outcome. He added: ‘I wanted publicity [about this because] everywhere I go, I get a reaction from people who have struggled like hell trying to deal with morass of these cases.’ Fred de Fosard, the director of strategy at the Prosperity Institute, warned Britain was facing a ‘de-banking crisis’ caused by ‘costly regulations’. He said: ‘While political attention focuses on high profile cases where people are de-banked for their political beliefs, organisations like the Walsham le Willows Sports Club having their bank accounts cancelled shows how de-banking has harmed hundreds of thousands of people and businesses in Britain recently. 'Over the years, costly regulations have piled up on financial institutions and a risk-averse "computer says no" culture has led to law-abiding, honest British organisations having their bank accounts closed because banks can't be bothered to offer them a service. Mr Campbell tried speaking to someone at a Lloyds branch but was told it no longer dealt with business accounts ‘In a digital world, access to finance is essential for anyone to live their lives. ‘Walsham le Willows Sports Club has been treasured by locals in Suffolk for 130 years. Hopefully the financial ombudsman can secure a reprieve for the club. ‘But this is a reminder that we must remove the costly regulations which have created the insidious phenomenon of de-banking which was swept Britain over the last decade.' A Lloyds spokesman said: ‘To help protect customers and meet our regulatory obligations, we sometimes need to carry out checks to confirm how an account is operated. ‘In this case, while those checks were necessary, the experience wasn’t as easy as it should have been and we are sorry for the distress and disruption this caused. ‘We have reviewed what happened, apologised to the club, paid compensation in recognition of the service received, and the account is now open and operating normally.’ Earlier this week it emerged banks are looking into using a UK-wide data-sharing system that would prevent debanked customers from opening accounts with other lenders. 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