A FORMER Northern Rock worker told the conference how his “life was back on track” after the sale to Virgin Money.

Paul Bunyan was invited to speak after meeting George Osborne in a branch in Newcastle, when the Chancellor visited in May this year.

Mr Bunyan said: “I'm not a politician, I'm not an economist, but I have first-hand experience of what happens when the economy crashes.

“Right at the heart of it, on the front line, dealing with those queues of customers who had been panicked by the news reports

“That day my colleagues and I were working from early in the morning until late at night, making sure that those worried customers could withdraw their money.

“It was horrible to see the fear people were feeling, frightened they were going to lose everything they'd saved.”

Mr Bunyan said it was “exciting to be led by Richard Branson”, after the nationalised bank was sold to Virgin Money for £747m, in late 2011.

He added: “They came with an ambition to make banking better. Now life was back on track.”