AIB says it is making every effort to ensure the confidentiality of customers at its branch at Clonakilty, Co Cork following an embarrassing series of breaches over several years.

The bank has blamed "human error" for the faxing of AIB documents - concerning customer balances, statements and credit control queries - to a local businessman, Mr Tom O'Leary. The businessman's fax number was similar to that of the AIB branch in Clonakilty with only a single digit differing between the two numbers. Over an eight-year period, Mr O'Leary, who is a genealogical and legal researcher, received documents bound for the local branch from customers and from various departments within AIB Group.

Mr O'Leary said he informed the branch each time such an error occurred but the documents continued to be sent. "The bank has apologised for these errors, changed its fax number and will ensure that every effort is made to ensure there are no further errors," AIB said yesterday.

A spokeswoman said documents had been misdirected on only "a few occasions" to Mr O'Leary but accepted that the error seemed to have continued for a long time.The bank could face legal action from customers whose confidential details were revealed.

Mr O'Leary decided to take his own legal action to resolve the problem last November after he received fax copies of cheques from AIB's special statements unity in Adelaide Road, Dublin. AIB has since offered to pay the cost of Mr O'Leary changing his fax number as part of its efforts to resolve the issue satisfactorily.