High street shops in Oxford appear to be cracking down on lending, with strict checks on customers applying for store cards.

Four years ago, in an Oxford Mail investigation, our reporter managed to rack up more than £4,500 of debt during just a couple of hours shopping in the city centre.

But this year, reporter Ellie Simmonds could only get £650 of credit before being declined by the company behind many of the store cards. And another reporter, Fran Barsdley, was refused credit altogether.

Ms Simmonds picked up a store card in Monsoon with £350 credit and one in River Island with £300 credit.

But when she went to Dorothy Perkins she was refused a third store card - after credit firm GE Capital Bank Ltd realised she had already applied for two others in the same afternoon.

Ms Bardsley filled out an application form at Faith, in the Westgate Shopping Centre, but was told it had not gone through.

She said: "I was quite surprised, I thought it would be much easier. The shop assistant told me that it was probably because I had only been at my current address for 10 months.

"I have never had a loan, other than a student loan, or a credit card, and ironically I think my lack of history of borrowing money may have counted against me."

Oliver O'Dell, chief executive of city centre management company OX1, welcomed the stricter checks.

He said: "People expect credit. It is not that places do not give you credit, it is that people expect more.

"I think there needs to be more safeguards. People spend a whole lot of money at Christmas and then worry about it all year.

"Withholding credit is a good thing because it gives people money to spend throughout the whole year.

"The more we average out spending throughout the year, the better."

Mr O'Dell said store cards were generally only offered by high street chains and did no favours to Oxford's small independent shops.

And he added that OX1 was hoping to introduce a loyalty card scheme, which smaller shops could join, to encourage people to spend their money in Oxford.

John Baird, managing director of debt management company DCM Money Solutions, said people were particularly vulnerable to racking up debt on store cards at this time of year.

He said: "What people do not realise is that most store cards are often more expensive than credit cards. These cards are usually sold' to customers by untrained shop assistants who have little understanding of the problems associated with borrowing.

"That said, people should read the small print and take some of the responsibility for their debt."

A spokesman for Dorothy Perkins said: "Dorothy Perkins regularly reviews its lending and risk policies as part of its standard operating procedure."

No-one from GE Capital Bank Ltd, River Island, Faith or Monsoon was available to comment.

For advice about managing debts, log on to the community section of www.oxfordmail.co.uk