Martin Lewis has issued a "time to ban" plea after a warning to anybody with "a couple of hundred quid" in their bank account. The ITV This Morning and Good Morning Britain star took to Twitter/X to discuss Christmas, sharing a clip from his Money Show which aired on Tuesday night.

"Time to agree to ban unnecessary Christmas presents, the best gift may be not buying anyone anything. Watch & share if you agree…," he said. In the clip, Mr Lewis said: "We have a Christmas tradition here at the show - because it works. For five years, we've played you this video from 2018..."

Mr Lewis said: "Wasn't that an amazing audience we had in Liverpool, Manchester? That was 2018 - before the pandemic, Cost of Living crisis. They've exacerbated the situation. People simply can't afford to buy presents back - so community gathering, support each other.

READ MORE Ant and Dec fans boycott and say 'you've let us down' with 'poor judgement'

"It's nice to give but think about the impact of your giving. This is the time to have that conversation, folks." It comes after Mr Lewis' alert to anybody with a couple of hundred quid in their bank account. The ITV star explained that it was "quite complicated" as Premium Bonds are "a savings account where the interest is dictated by a lottery."

He explained: "If you have typical luck, which is based on the median average, you will earn less than 4.65%. Think about it this way, for every person that wins £1million, a lot of people have to win nothing, which is why on average, with typical luck, you get less than 4.65%.

"The maximum [investment] is £50,000. So as a general rule of thumb, if you are a higher or top-rate taxpayer, you have enough savings that you pay interest on it, and you’re looking at putting a large amount in, they can be a pretty good bet. If you’re looking at putting a few hundred quid in and you don’t pay tax on your savings, you would be a lot better off with a normal savings account where you’re guaranteed to get the interest.”