Question Author
Firstly thank you all for your replies and helpful comments.
My wife,after reading your comments, has resolved to move to a bank that will react positively to her comments.
Incidentially she did demand action from the branch manager, who advised this sort of query was only dealt with through their phone system(via India) Branches were unable to amend/cancel/refund D/Ds. My family will move away from Abbey , following some research, even if this means slighthly lower rates of interest