A teenager is the first person to get "unfair" bank charges repaid after following advice in The Argus.

Jack Hornsby is celebrating getting a full refund from the Co-op bank after he used our step-by-step guide on how to beat the banks.

The 19-year-old ran up charges totalling £250 when he went overdrawn while using cashpoints abroad.

Mr Hornsby, of Beaconsfield Villas, Brighton, discovered such fines were being investigated as unlawful by reading a special series of articles in The Argus.

He said: "I didn't realise these charges could be unlawful until I read about it in The Argus and decided to do something about it.

"I took my advice from the paper and wrote a letter to my bank demanding my money back and they refunded everything plus an extra £50."

Mr Hornsby had been using ATM machines for getting cash while travelling in Ecuador and south Colombia.

He did not know he had gone overdrawn and was being charged £35 each time he withdrew money.

The Office for Fair Trading is investigating extortionate charges used by banks when customers go overdrawn or their cheques bounce.

Consumer watchdogs say charges of up to £39 prop up banks' profits and do not reflect true administration costs incurred by them.

The investigation has prompted hundreds of thousands of people to threaten their banks with legal action.

Sonja Turner, 38, of Auckland Drive, Lower Bevendean, Brighton, has applied to get £3,520 plus interest back from Abbey National.

She said: "I'm a single parent and I've lost track of the amount of times I went into the bank and pleaded with them to do something about my charges.

"Once they were going to charge me £360 on Christmas Eve and I was in tears but they said there was nothing they could do."

Miss Turner, a part-time receptionist, said many of her payments went out of her bank account the day before she got paid but she had been unable to change the date and got charged as a result.

Callum Golding, of Nightingale Lane, Burgess Hill, said his charges go back three years and come to £1,300, mainly through going overdrawn by small amounts.

The 21-year-old IT technician said: "It all adds up and I knew it would come to quite a bit but I didn't expect it to be that much.

"I was unemployed for a while and got charged a huge amount during that time, I didn't feel I was getting any help at all.

"I think it's important people claim such large charges which are made for going overdrawn by such small amounts."

Self-employed publisher Barry Duke, 55, had been charged around £35 for going overdrawn by £2.

He said: "The infringements have been so minor. I have never gone overdrawn by more than £5 or £6 but I have been charged so much.

"I think people just shrug their shoulders when they get a charge and don't think anything more of it but it mounts up.

"Once I was charged £120 for being £3 overdrawn and I thought 'I'm not having this anymore'."

Mr Duke, of Viaduct Road, Brighton, won back £400 from the Halifax and is claiming £562 from Abbey National.

He has also reclaimed £450 from Lloyds TSB on behalf of his partner Marcus Robinson, 40.

* Visit www.theargus.co.uk for details on how to reclaim your bank charges. If you have a success story call Rachel Fitch on 01273 544536 or email rachel.fitch@theargus.co.uk