Long queues formed at cash machines across the Republic of Ireland, after technical faults led to customers being able to withdraw large sums while having little or no funds in their accounts.

The glitch, which affected some Bank of Ireland ATMs, lasted for several hours on Tuesday, and it now appears to have been resolved.

Irish police said they were aware of an unusual volume of activity around some cash points, and deployed officers outside banks.

Some customers were allowed to transfer up to €1,000 (£850) from their accounts, the Irish Times reported.

The bank has apologised for the outage, but also warned customers that any money withdrawn over normal limits would be “applied to their accounts.”