Almost 5 million people have been accepted for credit cards in the past year, without having to submit proof of income, according to a YouGov poll.

In a survey, 4.8 million people who have applied for credit cards in the past year were not asked to provide payslips, or any other proof of pay to support what was on their application.

The survey, which was commissioned by the price comparison website uSwitch, showed that over 2.9 billion pounds was granted in credit after lenders failed to ask more than 14% of people their salary and outgoings throughout the application process.

The poll showed that over 5% of those who applied for credit lied about their annual income and added more than 70% onto their pay securing more than £693 million in credit as a result.

More than 77% of those surveyed also obtained credit from lenders other than their banks, which would have had very little information about the applicant’s credit history.

Simeon Linstead, head of personal finance at uSwitch said: “We cannot ignore the fact that the credit crunch has forced lenders to tighten their belts and reject applications that may lead to further write-offs,"

"(But) the fact remains that just because a consumer appears to have a 'suitable' credit score, it doesn't mean they are always honest about their income and actually have the cash available each month to pay the bill.

"The credit squeeze will back some consumers into a corner and -- in sheer desperation -- people will resort to lying about their salaries as this is such an easy loophole to exploit."

The number of applications of store cards has almost doubled in the past 5 years to 13.4 million.  This has been blamed on untrained staff that work on a commission basis, and do not give the applicant the required information for the cards.

A spokesman for the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, a debt charity, said: “The lack of basic checks is a worry. As the credit crunch takes its toll on consumers' finances, many people may be tempted to lie on credit application forms. It is vital there are rigorous checks put in place to ensure more credit is not given to borrowers who are already overstretched.”

It is now mandatory to carry out credit reference checks.  Credit companies are now required to make check the applicant’s income and financial commitments, how their credit has been handled in the past and what credit score they have obtained.

From this, uSwitch have predicted that over 6.6 million credit card applications will be rejected in the next 12 months.

Rod Ashley, of Glasgow financial co-operative Scotwest Credit Union, said: "We often deal with people who have exhausted every form of credit and have got themselves into trouble, often through credit cards.

"To give people credit without checking is totally irresponsible, and isn't fair to anyone.

"It is dangerous for the lender and dangerous for the client.

"In today's climate credit is a necessity, but there has to be an onus on lenders to make sure they lend responsibly."