David Fishwick’s pay day loans TV crusade

The minibus millionaire made headlines worldwide taking on British banking giants on Channel 4 show “Bank of Dave”.

But now the banking rebel, who fought the regulators to open Burnley Savings and Loans, is back with a new programme to tackle payday lenders he branded a “rip off” in an exclusive interview with the Express.

Mr Fishwick spoke of his crusade to take on “predatory” lenders who can charge interest of up to 4,000% or 5,000% on short-term loans.

He said: “I have seen first hand the misery that pay day loans can bring and in this programme I’m determined to do something about it.”

The news comes as the Citizen’s Advice Bureau said 1,000 people in Burnley and Pendle accessed the service pleading for help with debt problems last year alone.

Lynda Clegg, manager of Burnley Citizens’ Advice Bureau, said debt problem figures had soared in the area with dozens of people taking out high-interest payday loans to make ends meet. She said people were taking out up to 15 payday loans at a time but ending up deep in debt, bankrupt or losing their homes.

She said: “We are seeing more and more people going for payday loans. It has increased three-fold over the last few years. The crux is money is easy to get hold of now but the companies don’t do credit checks and give money to vulnerable people. These companies need to be regulated.”