Man refused bank card for looking too much like Pavarotti

A Pavarotti lookalike was refused a personalized card by his bank after staff mistook him for the real singer. Colin Miller has worked as a double for the opera singer for more than 20 years, but believes his bank penalized him for his looks after refusing to issue him with a card which carried his photograph. The 66-year-old, of Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, said: "I spoke to the staff at my bank who said they didn't know why I was refused and could only assume it is because of who I look like.

Photo from SWNS.

"But I can't help who I look like. I don't try to look like Pavarotti, I have had no cosmetic surgery and I don't try to do things to myself to look like him. I am being penalized for looking how I do. In the past I banked with Abbey National and had a personalized card with my photo on, as it provides extra security. They later stopped doing the cards and I just stayed with Barclays, who I have been with for 20 years."

After Barclays recently started offering personalized cards, Mr Miller and his wife, of Gough Side, Burton, both applied. He said: "I uploaded a picture of me on to the website. It is the picture I use on my business cards because I look like this naturally, and then I cropped it to the neck." Mr Miller said his wife received her photographic card, but he was sent a plain one. He later received an e-mail saying the bank was unable to process his card.

Photo from SWNS.

Mr Miller said: "They say it is because of copyright, but I have never been contacted by people representing the real Pavarotti about it." Barclays called the error an "understandable mistake" after staff believed his photograph was that of the late opera singer. Nicola Fowkes, Barclays branch manager for Burton, said: "We are now in the process of contacting Mr Miller so that he can resubmit his application with the original image, so that Mr Miller will have his Barclays personalized debit card, complete with his chosen image."