A financial guru has praised a Sittingbourne school for setting up a community bank.

Martin Lewis, the founder and editor of Moneysavingexpert.com, sent a congratulatory message to Murston Juniors.

He wrote to staff and pupils after hearing about the opening of the bank, being run by Year 6 pupils.

It was launched on Wednesday last week by the Bishop of Dover the Rt Rev Trevor Willmott.

Each child will have their own savings account which they can then use to pay in and withdraw money, using a specially designed pass book.

As well as being able to deposit real money, the youngsters can also earn Murston Money as part of a new reward scheme.

This will be exchanged for pounds and pence, and transferred into their own bank account when they move to secondary school.

Financial education became an official part of the new maths and citizenship curriculum in Years 3 and 4 last month.

Mr Lewis said: “Learning how banking works is a very important part of money education.

“Everyone who receives a bank account, or discusses finance in class, has been given the chance to break the cycle of debt and the bad messages passed on about money.

"Good luck to you all.”

The school, in Church Road, was inspired to set the branch up after nearby All Saints became the first church in the county to establish a community bank earlier this year.

It was created by the Kent Savers Credit Union to provide struggling families with loans and savings accounts.

The system, which was launched in 2010 to provide affordable financial services, allows members to pay into a not-for-profit organisation which then invests cash and lends it back to people when they are in need.

As credit unions cannot legally charge more than 26.8% interest annually, it is hoped it will tempt people away from taking out payday loans, some of which have rates of more than 5,000%.