The Bank of England has resorted to drastic measures in their latest attempt to rescue our flailing economy.

In the next few weeks they'll start offering cheap loans to high street banks - but only on the condition that they boost lending to consumers and small businesses.

They'll also hold monthly 'auctions' where banks will be able to compete for short-term secured loans to help with temporary cash-flow problems.

All in all, the Bank of England will extend well over £100 billion to the banks which should help protect them, and us, from the Eurozone crisis.

If it works it should combat the rising cost of borrowing and loosen the strangle-hold on lending that's making life very difficult for consumers and small businesses alike.

For consumers like you and me it should mean mortgages become more readily available, borrowing becomes cheaper (or at the very least stays as it is now) and (we can hope) savings rates stabilise - all of which should help our economy grow from the bottom up.

Here's hoping they've hit the nail on the head with this one!

What else is happening...

Banks will be made more financially secure thanks to plans to 'ring-fence' retail banking

The government have now confirmed plans to force banks into separating their consumer-facing and investment operations entirely.

However, they have conceded to the banks on a number of issues - including what can be defined as investment banking!

You can now withdraw money from an ATM without your card ...

...if you're a RBS or Natwest customer with a smart phone. You can take out up to £100 a time from the banks' cashpoints via the GetCash app; all you need to do is request a special PIN.

Fines for bad driving could go up by 50% if government plans get the go-ahead.

Under their proposals careless driving will become a fixed penalty offence, resulting in a £90 fine and 3 points on your licence.

Fines for other fixed penalty traffic offences will increase from £60 to £90 too - the only exception is parking fines.

Mortgage lending took a nose-dive in April with 30% fewer applications getting the go-ahead...

...compared to March.

The figures are somewhat skewed though as the previous month marked the end of the stamp duty holiday and its resulting surge in first time buyer applications.

Household income dropped by 3.1% in 2010-2011 - the biggest fall seen since the 80s.

Interestingly it was wealthier households that took more of a hit, although low income households had notably less to spend too.

Yorkshire Building Society are bringing back passbook-only savings accounts...

... in response to a growing demand from customers shunning online banking.

Apparently they're finding customers are even willing to forgo market-leading interest rates for the privilege!