According to a report by the Belfast Telegraph, the queue leading to the ATM, which is located in west Belfast, was three people deep after news of the fault spread on Thursday.

It is thought that the cash machine was shut down just before 1pm after police and engineers arrived, says the paper.

It is not known exactly how much the glitch has cost First Trust or if the bank will be able to reclaim the cash.

In a statement to the paper, First Trust confirmed that the ATM "experienced a malfunction" and says an investigation is under way.

In October last year customers cleaned out a Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) ATM located in the Clifton area of Bristol that began dispensing £20 for every £10 withdrawn.

At the time RBS blamed the incident on a "manual error" and said it had a record of everyone who had made withdrawals and any discrepancies would be followed up.