St Germans Memorial Hall has been debanked by Barclays

But a Norfolk village hall was left unable to pay its bills and facing closure after being caught up in new rules designed to prevent financial corruption and international money laundering.

St Germans Memorial Hall, near King's Lynn, was left in limbo and unable to access the £14,377 it had in its coffers after being 'debanked'.

Barclays Bank decided to close the hall's account, as part of ongoing processes which have seen financial institutions remove clients - often without notice - that they consider to represent a legal or reputational risk.

It has previously been used to close the accounts of 'politically exposed persons' - those exposed to bribery and corruption - and to prevent money laundering and fraud, rather than to target village halls.

The St Germans committee first found out they had been 'debanked' when the venue was sent a statement from Barclays on December 6, saying its account's balance would be returned by cheque.

However, as of yesterday the money had not yet materialised, meaning cheques paid to cover expenses have bounced, leaving members to try to cover the shortfall from limited cash reserves or their own funds.

Barclays said the account had been closed because the committee had missed deadlines to update their business details, with information about their trustees.

Committee members at St Germans Memorial Hall (from left) Mary Harney, Sharon Wiseman, Michael Lewis, Ann Jackson, Margaret Blackburn, Katherine White and Robyn Press (Image: Chris Bishop)

But Mary Harney, chair of the charity which operates the hall and its playing fields, said they had sent in the forms as requested, before the account was closed, and because they had not received any update assumed everything was fine.

She said the organisation had been mired in mounting financial problems since the account was closed.

She had asked when the money might arrive and was told cheques had been outsourced to another company, which could take up to six weeks to process them.

Even if it were to open an account with another bank - a process which could take weeks - the hall still faced a wait until its funds arrived.

"Our cleaner, who we pay monthly - his cheque bounced," she said. "We've had to pay him in cash. We have some cash but it isn't going to last very long.

"So we won't be able to have the hall cleaned after a certain period of time," added Miss Haney, 69, a retired rail worker.

READ MORE: Villagers launch campaign to buy Crown and Anchor at St Germans

Miss Harney said a member had agreed to pay the £200 a month cost of insuring the premises, while what cash remained would be eaten up by a pending £1,200 bill for the fire alarm system.

For now, its electricity and water bills are in credit by a few hundred pounds.

The hall has around half a tank of heating oil left, which the committee expects to last until January or possibly February, after which it will face a bill or £600 or more to replenish it which it will be unable to pay if it does not have access to its funds by then.

"It's left us in a very difficult position," said Miss Harney. "We won't be able to rent out the hall soon."

After being contacted by this newspaper this week, Barclays investigated the case and said "as a gesture of goodwill" it would reopen the account, "subject to completing the necessary checks". It said it had now received the required forms.

Groups who use the building include the bowls club, Slimming World, Ladies Group, Sunshine Club and chair yoga.

All attract from 20 to 50 or more people, in a village surrounded by smaller communities which lack similar facilities and also depend on St Germans.

Many are elderly, with the hall providing their only opportunity to get out and socialise.

The Memorial Hall at St Germans, near King's Lynn (Image: Chris Bishop)

Charities, churches and community groups across the country have found themselves in similar limbo this month after having their accounts closed by Barclays. 

A Barclays spokeswoman said: "As part of our ongoing responsibility to help prevent financial crime, and to meet our regulatory obligations, we are required to keep up to date information regarding our customers’ accounts.

"It is very important that account holders respond to these requests for information from their bank. We fully understand the issues this can cause customers and we worked hard to avoid the last resort of account closure.”

WHAT IS DEBANKING?

The process involves the closure of people's or organisations' accounts if they are perceived to pose a financial, legal, regulatory or reputational risk to the bank.

It is often carried out without the bank giving a reason and without the prospect of appeal.

Critics say it can be misdirected and represents a serious threat to freedom of speech.

In a high profile case earlier this year, Nigel Farage was removed as a client by Coutts.

The bank's owner, NatWest, initially claimed he failed to meet the eligibility criteria of holding £1,000,000 or more in his account.

But it later emerged that Mr Farage's political views were considered as a factor in his account's closure.