The exact amount was $23,148,855,308,184,500 - equivalent to £14,138,265,398,942,298 - many times the US national debt. "I thought somebody had bought Europe with my credit card," said Josh Muszynski, from New Hampshire.

He says his appeals to his bank first met with little understanding, though it eventually corrected the error. "It was all back to normal," Mr Muszynski told his local television station, WMUR. "They reversed the negative balance fee, which was nice."

His nightmare began when he checked his online bank account a few hours after buying the cigarettes. "It is a lot of money in the negative," he said. "Something I could never, ever, afford to pay back. My children could not afford it, grandchildren, nothing like that."

Mr Muszynski rushed back to the petrol station, but they were unable to help. He says he then spent two hours on the phone with the Bank of America before it was finally resolved.

Good job he left the six pack on the shelf...

The trouble started when she found his porn bill...

The original was here