Couple's loan 'con' triumph.

A COUPLE who sued a bank that penalised them for paying off a mortgage early have been awarded pounds 5,000 damages.

Margaret and Allan Lewis were advised by Lloyds TSB in 1988 to buy their house with an endowment mortgage.

But when it became clear a decade ago that the endowment was going to fall pounds 12,000 short, the Lewis's paid off their debt out of their savings.

Two years ago they asked Lloyds for compensation because the mortgage had been missold.

The bank offered them a paltry pounds 300 - and said they were not as needy as some because they had paid off the mortgage.

Delighted Margaret, from Wickhamford, Worcs, said: "We feel brilliant. It's a victory for the common people."