Barclays has been accused of promoting irresponsible spending following its trial today of a credit card with a limit of £25,000, it has been reported.

Its new Freedom credit card charges a rate of 14.9 per cent on balances which remain by the end of the month unless the customer transfers to a 6.6 per cent loan facility, states This Is Money.

The website reports that charity Credit Action believes the card is promoting irresponsible spending and cashing in on customers who forget to move their spending to the loan facility.

Chris Tapp, director of Consumer Action told the website there were not many people who could clear such a sum on a monthly basis.

He said: "I can think of very few scenarios where this would be a good idea as it could be a very high risk way of borrowing money."

The charity reports that at the end of August, Britain’s personal debt increases by £1 million every four minutes and that the average consumer borrowing by credit cards, retail finance deals, overdrafts and unsecured loans was £4,524 for each adult.