A mother-of-three is seeing red after her bank refused to pay her monthly donation to the NSPCC because it would have left the account £1.50 overdrawn.

And the Yorkshire Bank has issued a penalty charge of £35 to the young mum's account - which did take her overdrawn.

Tracey Radcliffe, who lives in Norman Mount, Eccleshill, Bradford, said she could not believe her eyes when she opened her bank statement this month.

"It was unbelievable - they had refused a direct debit for £3 to a charity that would have left me £2.50 overdrawn because I had 50p in the account," she said. "But they did allow me to go overdrawn by £34.50 to pay themselves.

"It's a disgrace and they ought to be ashamed of themselves."

Miss Radcliffe said she set up the direct debit two years ago.

"The NSPCC is a charity I really believe in because I'm a mother myself," she said.

"I love children and the thought of a child being hurt really distresses me.

"I give what I can to help the NSPCC to put a stop to child cruelty."

An NSPCC spokesman said: "This is FULL STOP Week. We are appealing for people to do something to support the NSPCC and our aim of ending cruelty to children.

"We are grateful to this reader for her £2-a-month donations. The NSPCC relies on donations for 85 per cent or our funding and without this support we could not continue our vital work helping children.

"This work includes an NSPCC family support service in Little Horton, Bradford."

Miss Radcliffe, who works part-time at Grattan, said if she could give more she would. "I would like to be able to afford to give the NSPCC a bigger donation so the fact that they have not paid the small amount I can give has upset me," she said.

"I think the bank should give the charge amount of £34.50 to the charity as a goodwill gesture."

A Yorkshire Bank spokesman said it was not policy to discuss customer accounts but said they would contact Miss Radcliffe directly.

The NSPCC spokesman said people could help the charity by wearing the FULL STOP badge or wrist band available in major retail outlets.

Anyone wanting to get involved in fundraising locally should ring Helen Verity, community appeals manager, on 01422 334500.