A FAMILY-of-five from Worthing claim they have been forced to seek help from food banks after an apparent banking error left them a whopping £1.5million in debt.

The Livermore family have been forced to take the drastic action and seek help from family and friend for nearly a month when all three of their Barclays accounts left them £500,000 in debt on each account.

Dad Paul and mum Kayleigh, both 31, have struggled to keep the family afloat and feed their three kids, aged 11, eight and seven due to what appears to have been a banking error that took place on Bank Holiday Monday regarding their accounts - one a personal account, another for savings and a third, joint account.

Paul says the three accounts were all in credit before the national holiday but then each account had a deficit of around £500,000 each and he says he never had an overdraft but had agreed an emergency £10 buffer with the high street bank.

With the massive deficit, they defaulted on their payments for their car, tax, rent and phone bills.

Paul said: "Initially the account was suspended for ten working days and then they told me the accounts were going to be held indefinitely under investigation.

"The bank has also texted me saying that bills have not been paid and our mobile phone accounts have been suspended for outgoing calls as well as the home internet.

"We have pretty much been living off hand outs since Bank Holiday Monday, I have never been in a situation like this before and it is so embarrassing to ask for so much help.

"The kids are managing and we are making sure they are eating, they have lunch at school.

"The food bank gave us a lot of vegetables, fruit and items for the cupboard as well as some bread and milk.

"They have also offered to let us use the local homeless kitchen which helps those in need, it is really overwhelming how supportive everyone has been.

Paul is currently in negotiations with his bosses to try to free up some cash but has so far been unsuccessful.

He added: "I cried when I saw the figure, I was gobsmacked and didn't know what was going on.

"It's so confusing and stressful, we have missed payments for our car finance, tax and rent because of this."

Paul has no access to his accounts and has complained to Barclays but has yet to receive an explanation for the issue.

The dad-of-three added: "Maybe Barclays could explain why my account was suspended so abruptly with no explanation.

"I'm angry and disappointed, I have been a Barclays customer for over 15 years, it's not good enough."

Barclays have confirmed they are investigating the matter, but are currently unable to ascertain how long the matter will take to get sorted.

A Barclays spokesman told The Sun Online: “We’re currently looking into this.”