A man who went into a bank to get help with his own account was handed the details of 22 other customers.

The Royal Bank of Scotland said there was “a human error” at its branch in Bank Street, Bradford.

Joseph Harrison, 19, had called in for advice after struggling to get into his bank account online.

“It had locked me out so when I was in town I just called in to get some help,” he said.

A member of staff jotted down a helpline number for him to ring. But the sheet of paper they had used from the customer service desk had a clear print-out of payments made by other people and organisations on the reverse side.

Mr Harrison, an apprentice with Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I got home, opened out the piece of paper they had given me and couldn’t believe it when I saw what was on the other side.

“It was a complete, detailed list of payments.

“It had people’s names, names of businesses and a community group along with their account numbers, the amount being paid and details for what reason.

“It was all there, from MasterCard to American Express, Direct Line, personal loans and child tax credit.

“There were reference numbers, bank codes and account numbers and sequence numbers. It was just astonishing this could have slipped through.

“If it had fallen into the wrong hands there could have been a lot of trouble for a lot of people. It’s very private information that customers expect to be kept safe.

“I think what happened was the paper was on a pile of scrapped paper to be recycled, which is a good thing to do, but recycling in banks of this sort can obviously be a bit dodgy.

“They should be more careful in future.”

A spokesman for the Royal Bank of Scotland said: “We take data protection very seriously and follow robust procedures to ensure confidential customer information is secure at all times.

“Regrettably on this occasion, some information was disclosed as a result of human error. We thank our customer for bringing this matter to our attention and have taken immediate steps to address this unacceptable lapse in procedure.”

An internal investigation is now ongoing.

e-mail: kathie.griffiths@telegraphandargus.co.uk