A BUSINESSMAN watched his computer screen in horror as thousands of pounds were drained from his company bank accounts before his eyes.

Stuart Browne nearly lost his company after falling victim to hackers who used a computer virus to gain access to his accounts.

The York businessman today praised quick-thinking bank staff for saving his business and promising to reimburse the £15,000 hackers drained from its account.

When Mr Browne, of Bishopthorpe, went online to check his company accounts he faced his worst nightmare - thousands of pounds "vanishing" on the screen.

Initially thinking it was a cashier error Mr Browne, who is general manager of The Sound Solution, a small business manufacturing soundproofing materials, immediately rang Phil Baines, his business manager at Barclays Bank, in Parliament Street, York, to find out what was going on.

An hour later the account was frozen - just seven pence away from the overdraft limit.

He said: "It was just totally unbelievable to watch the numbers rolling over. At first I thought there might have been some sort of mistake on the computers at Barclays, that's why I rang Phil.

"But when he told me it was not then I started to get pretty scared."

He said life for him and the six employees at the company's Acaster Malbis office has been "panicked" since the event - but it could have been far worse.

He said: "I know people don't normally praise their banks, but Barclays has been fantastic and Phil Baines needs a medal for what he did for us."

Mr Browne believes he is the victim of hackers who hit his software with a virus particularly dangerous computer virus called Mabutu.

Barclays has promised to reimburse the money and the case is being investigated by its in-house fraud team who will contact the police.

"The bank advises customers to protect their PCs with the most up-to-date anti-virus software.

A spokeswoman for Barclays Bank said incidents like this were relatively rare, adding: "We are delighted our staff were able to respond as quickly and effectively as they did.

"Barclays customers should be assured that if in the unlikely event that they are a victim of internet fraud on their account any losses will be covered by us whatever the amount. Mr Browne did exactly what we advise customers to do in his situation - keep a check on their accounts and contact their bank manager or local branch immediately if they find any irregularities."

Updated: 09:20 Saturday, February 05, 2005