People are being urged to double check their accounts after thousands were charged twice for debit card payments due to a glitch.

Lloyds said people would be refunded and that just under 5 per cent of Cardnet machine transactions were affected on August 29.

While transactions only showed up once on receipts, money was taken from customers’ accounts twice because of the error.

It happened due to a glitch with an issue with card terminals run Cardnet, a joint venture between Lloyds Bank and First Data.

In a statement on its website, Lloyds Bank said: “We anticipate that refunds to cardholders charged twice will be completed by Tuesday, September 4.

“Cardnet sincerely apologises for the issue and the inconvenience caused, we continue to work closely with all parties to resolve this issue swiftly.”

The majority of affected transactions involved Visa debit cards, the BBC reported.