Poppy Ryan, 17, lost £250 from her Abbey current account after using a cash machine which had been tampered with. Miss Ryan, who works at Boots the chemist, was told she would have her money back within four weeks but is still waiting.

She said: "I am really annoyed about this. I reported it to the police, who said it looked like my card had been cloned, but the bank hasn't done anything." The incident happened at the Nationwide cash machine, opposite the Lord Rosebery pub in Westborough, in April.

Miss Ryan, of Gildercliffe, said: "There was a man in front of me taking ages. When I went to use the machine it was playing up and swallowed my card.

"The card did come back out eventually the machine didn't give me my money. "I noticed that the same man was hanging around and went back to the machine after I had used it."

Miss Ryan added that she was grateful to her parents for lending her £250 to cover her loss but is unhappy that she has not yet been able to repay them due to the bank's delay.

She said: "Because I'm under 18 I don't earn much money as it is. I'm just glad I didn't have more in my account at the time."

Miss Ryan has received a letter from Abbey saying it is investigating the incident. A statement about fraud on Abbey's website reads: "To give you real peace of mind, in the unlikely event funds are taken from your account without your authorisation, we would pay you back any loss incurred from fraud, up to the value of the amount fraudulently taken. "All we ask is that you have not acted fraudulently or without reasonable care to keep your security information safe."

Scarborough Police confirmed that they were aware of ATM scams operating in the area and investigations were ongoing. Thieves have recently targeted ATM machines at Abbey in Westborough and Proudfoots supermarket in Scalby Road.

Police believe a device known as a "Lebanese loop" may have been used to scam customers out of thousands of pounds. A spokesman said: "We would encourage people to take care while using ATMs and be on the lookout for anything unusual."

Police are asking members of the public to report any incidents or suspicions immediately by calling 0845 6060247.

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