Barclays Stockbrokers has compensated private investor John Miles after an administrative error left him unable to sell a holding. After being contacted by Shares, Barclays agreed to refund the London investor £150 for the loss caused by the delay.

When he tried to trade in January, Miles was incorrectly told by Barclays that his ShareDeal account was suspended. Barclay’s suspended inactive ShareDeal accounts following the introduction of Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid) in November, but Miles’ account was not among these.

Instructed to open a new account, this process took 12 days in which time the value of Miles’ Swallowfield (SWL:AIM) shares fell. A Barclays spokesman says: ‘We have compensation Mr Miles in full for the shortfall this delay caused and will be sending him a gift hamper by way of thanks for his patience in this matter.’