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VIEWS GIVEN: Eric Toft and below, Sheila Browitt and John Swinson

SHOPPERS and Northern Rock customers in Darlington town centre gave their views about the bank's nationalisation yesterday.

Eric Toft, 81, from Darlington, has had a mortgage with Northern Rock for more than 50 years.

He said: "The Government do not know what they are doing. I have no faith in them at all.

"Us customers have been messed about for too long."

Nicola Wailes, a 27-year-old mother-of-one from Lanchester, County Durham, said: "As long as my money is safe, I am not too bothered about who is in charge.

"I would say I trust Richard Branson more than the Government, though.

"I would have liked it if he had been given a chance."

John Smith, 83, from Darlington, said: "I think nationalising the bank is the only thing the Government could do.

"People are paranoid about it, but what else could be done? This was not the Government's fault - it was big business bankers and greedy people who borrowed too much who got it into this state."

Sheila Browitt, a 69-year-old saver from Darlington, said: "I think the bank is going downhill.

I cannot see it ever recovering properly. I would have preferred it if Richard Branson had taken charge."

John Swinson, a 60-year-old from Neasham, near Darlington, said: "I am not a customer, but I think the bank got into trouble because of Government mismanagement.

"What I fail to understand is how the financial regulators allowed Northern Rock to get into this mess.

"We have a culture of debt in this country now, and people are allowed to borrow more than they can afford.

It has been going on for years and needs to be sorted out."

7:45am Tuesday 19th February 2008

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