A 71-year-old blind campaigner who travelled 300 miles to stage a protest outside a Skipton building society has returned home a happy man.

Colin Bennett spent two days in Skipton outside the High Street branch of Skipton Building Society.

Mr Bennett, who travelled unaided by train from his home in Hove, East Sussex, was protesting against the building society’s inability to communicate with him by email.

He said the lack of proper communication had directly led to him four years ago being unaware of changes to his long standing account which had resulted in him losing money.

But after two days in which he sat on a chair with a placard bearing the words ‘ Skipton BS, do you rip off blind investors?’, the society agreed to do better in future.

It also agreed to reimburse him the money he said he would have earned in interest if his account had remained unchanged, and to also cover the cost of his trip to Skipton.

“I am happy to say that we came to an amicable settlement and that we can now move forward,” said Mr Bennett.

Soon after he set up outside the branch on Tuesday, members of staff discussed his complaint and offered him cups of tea.

Mr Bennett, who is registered blind, said the society had agreed to pay him £800 in lost interest in addition to his expenses including train and two nights’ accommodation in the town.

A spokeswoman for Skipton Building Society said: “We aim to place our customers’ needs at the heart of everything we do, to ensure that being a member of Skipton is a rewarding experience.

“For this reason, we are disappointed whenever we hear that someone feels dissatisfied.

“On these rare occasions, we do everything we can to find an appropriate solution, and are pleased to have been able to do just that for Mr Bennett.”