A SHOP worker was amazed to see a security guard turn his back on thousands of pounds of cash destined for a city centre bank.

Justin Walden, of Hurst Street, East Oxford, stood as bags of £1 and 50p coins were thrown from a van on to a trolley in busy Cornmarket Street.

The 32-year-old watched in disbelief as the lone guard then turned his back on the stack of cash to ferret around in the van.

Mr Walden said: "There were dozens of people walking along the street and doing a 'double take' when they saw the bags of money."

The stock of coins was then wheeled into Barclays, leaving the van unattended in the middle of the street.

G4S Cash Services (UK) - the company formed following the merger of Group 4 Falck and Securicor in 2004 - was behind the delivery and said it would investigate the incident.

Mr Walden, who works for Currys.digital in the Clarendon Centre, Oxford, and has an account with Barclays, thought the whole incident was being filmed for a spoof TV show.

He said: "I couldn't believe my eyes and, I must admit, assumed it was a wind-up to see if anyone would grab the cash.

"I considered picking up a bag when the guard's back was turned, and taking it into the branch and telling them what I thought about their security."

Mr Walden said the guard was not wearing any protective gear and the van did not seem to be fitted with extra tough locks.

Barclays confirmed it would be looking into the incident, which occurred at about 1.30pm on Wednesday, January 31.

Spokesman Julia Husband said: "We take all security aspects of banking extremely seriously and the welfare of our customers and employees are of paramount importance to us.

"We will be investigating the matter with the company concerned to ensure that instances like this do not occur again."

A G4S Cash Services spokesman said: "We take all allegations of irregularities in operational procedures extremely seriously and will be investigating the incident in question. The company has stringent policies to ensure employees conform to the standards and behaviours expected of them"