Susan Anderson wanted 4,000 pounds ($5,700) to pay off debts. The Halifax bank, which uses the slogan, "Always giving you extra," did just that and sent her a check for nearly nine million pounds.

"I know the slogan, but this was ridiculous," Anderson, 51, told The Sun newspaper.

The mother of two didn't spot the error at first.

"It's only when I looked at it later that I thought: 'That's not right,'" she said.

"At first I thought it was for 8,000 pounds, twice what I wanted. Then I looked at it again and realized that there was this huge figure that seemed to go on for ever," said Anderson, who is now expecting a new check for the right amount.

The single mother of two from Gloucestershire in western England alerted the bank to the mistake, but not before photocopying the check and showing it to her workmates. She also admitted dreaming about how to spend the money.

"Since getting it I've been round the world 20 times in my head spending it. I could certainly do some serious damage to money of that kind, and I need it," she said.

A spokesman for the bank told The Sun a computer error was behind the blunder.

ABC News

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2001