Sandra Ashenford reflects on the ups and downs of her week

THE phoney gym membership set up on my bank account turned out not to be an administrative error after all.

Having spent several anxious days closely monitoring the account without any further suspicious activity, I was beginning to think all was well when I received a worrying text.

We had just set off for Bournemouth when my bank texted me to thank me for opening a new account with them.

I rang them immediately and pointed out that I had not, in fact, opened a new account with them at all.

Ah, they said, are you sure? Then we just need to put you on hold for a moment.

We spent the next hour driving to the accompaniment of the most irritating on-hold music I’ve ever heard.

Daughter number four stuck her ear buds in and turned up her own music to drown it out, which put paid to any chance of a pleasant family drive.

After an hour (literally) someone from the bank’s fraud department came on the line, took some details, and then put me on hold for another 20 minutes.

When they finally came back on the line it was to announce that my account would be totally frozen for at least the next three weeks. And, of course, no-one has since told me anything.

It’s so frustrating. I can’t use my debit card or check my balance or make online payments or any of the other things I take for granted.

I’m back to operating on a cash only basis, which is weird in an electronic world.

I was still smarting at the injustice of it all when I took my car in for a service last week.

While it was being worked on I decided to walk from Ebley to Stroud along the canal.

It was the perfect way to dispel my financial woes. The wildlife was amazing and every now and then there was an information board giving details about the history of the canal.

After a couple of hours in town, I walked back in the opposite direction and saw things that I had missed the first time.

I was in such a good mood, for the first time in days, by the time I got back to the garage.

It lasted right up to the point that I got the bill.