A man charged with attempted rape and indecent assault is planning to claim for damages after computer problems at the RBS Group prevented his bail transaction being processed.

Michael Brock, 25, was granted bail at Canterbury Crown Court on the condition that £25,000 was paid before his release, which was then posted by his barristers at 1.30pm on Friday.

The former PCSO, pictured left, could have then been released on Saturday morning but the court was unable to tell if the money had been received because of a glitch affecting Natwest's computer system.

Brock's barrister Stephen Supple said: "The money was transferred to the account in Lowestoft on Friday afternoon. It goes into an account at the magistrates court there.

"But come Monday, the NatWest bank still said they had not received it even though my bank, Santander, said it had been debited.

"I warned the court that Michael was being held unlawfully. His liberty should not have been taken away because of a cock-up at the bank. So I went back to the clerk at Canterbury Crown Court. What I did was fax the receipt of the payment and the clerk accepted that.

"The prison released him almost immediately, within the hour, and Elmley prison in Sheppey released him at about 1pm on Monday."

He has been bailed to Avenue Road in Ramsgate.

Mr Supple continued: "Of course, Michael was not happy about this, especially as the cause of the problem was somewhere miles away in the world of high finance. Clearly, he will be looking for damages.

"I tried to speak to NatWest, I tried to get messages through to them, but it was like talking to a bag of flour, they were not interested. I warned them of the ramifications and the consequences.

"Michael has been charged with attempted rape and has been in custody since December. The application for bail was granted very quickly. There did not appear to be any objections from the prosecution.

"He has handed his passport into the police. He has to live at his bail address, must not contact prosecution witnesses or apply for travel documents. He also has a curfew between 9pm and 6am."

Thousands of Natwest and RBS branches remain open for longer hours, a week after their parent company RBS Group was alerted to a software fault.

In a statement on the NatWest website, Stephen Hester, chief executive of RBS Group, said: "Right now my top priority is to fix these problems and put things right for our customers.

"This is taking time, but I want to reassure people that we are working around the clock to resolve these problems as quickly as we are able."