A COUNCILLOR threatened to blow his bank manager's head off with a shotgun, a court heard.

Gerry Tull, 60, sent a fax to Lloyds TSB's Winchester branch containing the warning after "being brought to the brink by bureaucratic incompetence", magistrates were told.

It led to armed police swooping on his home in Main Road, Owslebury, and arresting him on suspicion of making threats to kill.

But Mr Tull, a farmer, was yesterday cleared of lesser charges of sending an offensive letter or article and sending an offensive or menacing message after prosecutors asked for him to be acquitted.

The member of Owslebury Parish Council was bound him over to keep the peace for two years and ordered not to issue threats to Lloyds TSB staff, in the sum of £500.

The threat stemmed from a dispute, lasting nearly two years, between Mr Tull and the bank.

He switched the account of his farming business to Lloyds TSB from HSBC in early 2006, but claimed he experienced a catalogue of errors after the move.

For several months there was an impasse with his overdraft, he said, which forced him to use cash for all business dealings.

He added that Lloyds TSB mistakenly sent him somebody else's account details, and when he told staff, they did not act.

To prove a point, Mr Tull used the details to create a bogus internet bank account, which he then cancelled.

He added that he exposed banking flaws a decade ago by applying for a credit card with another firm in the name of Rocky, his now-deceased Jack Russell.

It proved successful, and Mr Tull kept the dog's card - which has a £4,000 limit - as a souvenir.

Last August, he reached a deal with managers to leave Lloyds TSB, having repaid his overdraft.

However, he needed a final statement for his accounts, but despite lengthy phone calls, he said it did not arrive for nearly three months, and when it did it was wrong.

Having lost patience, he faxed Lloyds TSB in Winchester saying he would blow the manager's head off with a shotgun.

"This would have been a bit difficult, as I don't have a gun," he added.

However, the bank took it seriously, called police, and ten armed officers in four vehicles swooped on his home the next morning.

Magistrates also ruled that Mr Tull could reclaim all legal costs, estimated to be about £4,000, incurred after an initial hearing in early April.

Hampshire police and Lloyds TSB were not available for comment last night.