A Colliers Wood cyclist was charged £900 for borrowing a bike after London’s new cycle-hire scheme went into meltdown.

The cash was mistakenly withdrawn from the account of Dave Ward, 38, after he was hit with multiple late-return charges for use of the bikes.

According to Transport for London (TfL) he was one of 14 people signed-up to the scheme - established by the Mayor of London last month - who have experienced serious billing problems and will receive £220 compensation in addition to a full refund.

A problem with the docking mechanism at the Horseferry Road pick-up point meant Mr Ward was repeatedly charged a £150 non-return fee despite only making free journeys of less than 30 minutes and correctly racking the bike.

He complained each time and TfL subsequently refunded the money but on September 1 - his monthly billing date - £900 was taken from his account when he should have been charged nothing.

Yet despite the clerical error, Mr Ward has pledged to keep using the Mayor’s hire bikes.

He said: “I still think it is a great scheme. It's healthier and cheaper than using the Tube but obviously there are teething problems.”

A TfL spokesman said anyone affected by the problems would be compensated.

He added: “We have been assured by [scheme operators] Serco that these members have now had, or are about to have, their money paid back into their bank accounts, and that they have all been offered compensation for the inconvenience they have experienced.

“Serco has put in place measures to make sure this issue with the billing system doesn't happen again.”

More than 12,000 have signed up to the cycle-hire scheme, far outstripping the 5,000 bikes available at docking stations in central London.