Leicester Mercury journalist Nic Ridley has told how he was able to secure almost £40,000 of credit in just four hours.

The reporter was sent out on to the streets of Leicester to investigate how easy it is to get into debt, and was offered store cards and personal loans totalling £36,900.

The experiment was carried out as part of the paper's six-part series Drowning in Debt, which is also examining issues such as student debt and mortgages, and Nic was shocked by the results.

Recounting his findings to readers, he said: "The credit I gained is all the more astonishing because it would have been impossible for me to pay it back."

As Nic began his investigation, he chose shops at random and set about applying for their store cards.

A few minutes and a couple of credit checks later, he had managed to secure store cards at both Debenhams and River Island, giving him £900 in spending power at an interest rate of 29.9 per cent, before trying his luck at Rackham's.

Nic said in his article: "I'm secretly relieved when I'm rejected for a store card at Rackham's. One of the credit records companies must be finally taking notice.

"No explanation is given and I leave the shop strangely embarrassed."

Despite this knock-back, Nic continued in his quest to get himself into debt, and soon found himself being offered thousands of pounds in unsecured personal loans.

After being accepted for loans of £10,000 from both Egg and LloydsTSB, he was also approved for a loan of £11,000 from Norwich Union - and was told the cheque would be couriered to his house.

And before the day was out, Nic was also offered another £5,000 from dial4aloan.com, after first being knocked back for his request of £20,000 because he doesn't own his own house.

Afterwards Nic said: "I was suprised how easy it was. I'm not a homeowner and don't have many assets so if I was a lender I would consider myself to be a risk.

"To be able to get £40,000 in the space of a few hours is quite incredible.

"The more I applied for things the less I thought I could get away with it, but it seemed that no-one was cross checking and there didn't appear to be any communication between the different companies."