The Big Issue claims vendors have been approached by Barclaycard

His application was approved even though he says he told her he had no fixed address and had been blacklisted.

He received the card and �300 credit a few weeks after he says he was approached just before Christmas.

Barclaycard said it had offered credit but disputed the suggestion sales staff had approached a Big Issue vendor.

'Joke'

The man, 33, was selling The Big Issue in the North - the magazine for the homeless.

Vendors buy the magazine wholesale, sell it for �1.20 and keep the difference of 70p per copy.

The man, who does not want to be named, said: "I thought it was a joke at first. I was stopped by a woman with a clipboard telling me I could get a credit card.

"She knew I was a Big Issue seller and I told her that I didn't have a secure address and had been blacklisted. But she asked me to fill in a form anyway."

Ged Robinson, a Big Issue in the North co-ordinator based in Leeds, said a number of vendors had been approached and it is a cause for concern.

"Most of them are living quite chaotic lifestyles and they'll jump at the chance of �300 to spend," he said. "But they won't think about having to pay it back.

"What worries me is that when they get their lives stable again this debt could come back to haunt them and cause problems."

No approach made

But Barclaycard spokesman Ian Barber said they did not have any evidence their sales staff were approaching Big Issue sellers:

"The member of staff who worked on the application form that the card is linked to has no recollection of either approaching, or being approached by, a Big Issue vendor.

"The card was issued as he had lived in the same place for four years and it checked out with the electoral roll. He also had a bank account and said his income was �15,000 a year.

"The credit limit offered was extremely low, about �300, and could be used to start building a credit history, so if this guy wants to get a mortgage in four or five years' time then it could help him to get back on his feet."