A PRENTON man has devised a savings scheme which he says could reinvigorate the UK high street.

Tony Garbe, 39, proposes a similar system to the existing childcare voucher scheme that involves the Government waiving tax and National Insurance for participants.

His High Street Savings Club would allow workers to have part of their wages transferred to a pre-paid debit card which could only be spent in participating high street stores.

Based on an average 20% tax payer and the average wage of £26,000, Mr Garbe, who works in sales, claims it would provide savers with £2,916 to spend per year.

And he said if participating stores offered an extra 10% for club members, it could give £3,207 of spending power a year for an outlay of £1,983, equal to £1,224 per year of “free” shopping, or an equivalent pay rise of up to 11.5%.

Mr Garbe said his scheme is a win-win idea which would channel shoppers back to the high street: “Money cannot go into cash savings or paying off the mortgage, so the scheme is guaranteed to add confidence to the economy and have a real impact on the British high street.”

He said the tax and National Insurance waived by the Government would be more than compensated by tax and National Insurance from new retail jobs created by the influx and spending power of additional customers.

His proposal was delivered today to a number of key MPs, including Chancellor George Osborne and Birkenhead Labour MP Frank Field.