But these modern-day Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde characters had got the potion wrong. Quite simply, it didn't work.

The missing vital element was that the borrowers should have the means to pay the money back. Very quicky, the feelgood factor created by easy cash was replaced by one almighty defaulting hangover.

Unfortunately, it looks as if the rest of us will have to suffer for a few years yet for this crazed dabbling in the banks' financial laboratories.

But not all experimentation and innovation in the business world is rushed through and poorly thought out.

Managing director of Peterborough-based Midas Technologies Mark Lock and his staff have been working for years on an innovative and sustainable mechanism that will reduce the amount of water that leaks from our pipeworks each year.

The early signs look promising, with 10 water companies, including our own Anglian Water, agreeing to trial the new system, which is called Aqua-Mod.

If successful, this will be a vital component in the battle to save one of the planet's most precious commodities – water – and is also likely to transform the company's fortunes.

But this will not be any overnight success. Aqua-Mod was developed by years of hard work and patience.

There was no financial help from the banks to hurry this scheme through.

Every penny of the £350,000 that has been invested in Aqua-Mod's development has come from the hard-earned profits of Midas Technologies.

It is a far cry from the get rich quick mentality of the banks, which has merely served to saddle us with the credit crunch.