The Associated Press

It can be hard enough to pay for holiday gifts without being charged $148,000 just to park a car.

At least 26 motorists were left baffled and broke when they used their bank debit cards to buy parking time in the central Norwegian city of Trondheim last week.

Because of a computer glitch, the machine multiplied the amount of parking time they bought by 10,000 and automatically deducted it from their bank accounts.

For many, the withdrawal of the vast sums left their bank accounts spectacularly overdrawn, and their debit cards frozen in the midst of already hectic Christmas shopping.

One shopper had her bank card rejected when she tried to buy groceries and described the situation as very stressful.

A spokesman from the city parking company says banks are racing to reimburse the accounts before the weekend.