Up to 20,000 people could get interest-free loan

A government backed interest-free loan scheme is being expanded to help up to 20,000 people.

It's been trialled in Manchester and will be rolled out across Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire from September.

It allows people to borrow between £100 and £2,000 with the average amount being £500.

A decision will be made after two years as to whether the scheme should be expanded further.

Customers are allowed to have one loan with the programme for a minimum of six months and a maximum of 18 months, with the average being 12 months.

Fair4All Finance, which partly runs the scheme, was founded by the Treasury and the Department for Culture Media and Sport three years ago to ‘support the financial wellbeing of people in vulnerable circumstances’.