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This England

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Book and Magazine Collector

(J Clark)

Victims lent £1.5m

Bank of Scotland, part of HBOS, lent Peter and Josie Connell - not their real names - eight times their joint salary to buy a "dream Sussex farmhouse" last December.

But the bank admits it did not check the couple's real earnings. A spokesman says: "Based on the information supplied and the credit score we obtained, we were able to proceed without income verification."

Peter O'Connell says: "After four months, we had to give up. We had to put the property back on the market. We are victims of irresponsible lending which was unsustainable."

Guardian Money (David Pardy)

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