Lloyds TSB has started issuing Visa debit cards to children as young as 11, allowing them to stock up on anything from cheap booze to Viagra from unscrupulous web traders, according to the Daily Mail.

When asked why the bank hadn’t informed the children’s parents that they were issuing them with a licence to drain their pocket money, the bank replied: “We don’t always have the parents’ contact details or know the family’s circumstances.”

It’s a shot in the dark, I admit, but wouldn’t the child’s address be a good place to start looking for mum and dad? Or is Lloyds TSB dishing out mortgages to 11-year-olds too?