A computer programmer from Epsom was responsible for uncovering last week's web security scare on internet banking website Cahoot.

David Eade, who works for New Malden internet firm Blueberry Twist, stumbled upon a method to access his internet account without using a password or undergoing standard security checks.

The 27-year-old contacted news programme BBC Breakfast, which launched an investigation and exposed the major breach in a report last Friday.

It revealed that hackers could have accessed thousands of accounts because of a glitch. The website was closed down for 10 hours to fix the problem.

Mr Eade told the Epsom Guardian that the hackers could have gained access to every detail of customers' accounts, including loans, mortgages, where they had shopped and any internet shopping they had done.

He added: "I design systems where people have to log in and I am used to designing them as secure sites. You do see a lot of sites that are not secure, but you don't think that site would be a bank."

But despite uncovering this alarming drawback to internet banking, Mr Eade, who lives in Pams Way, said he would still recommend people use the internet for banking and shopping transactions.

He said: "It's easy, convenient and you can do it 24-seven. But I would recommend that people look into the company running the website first."

Cahoot, which is run by Abbey, closed down the website and fixed the problem, which it said was caused by a system upgrade, last Thursday.

But Mr Eade said he is no longer a Cahoot customer and has switched to another bank.

Head of Cahoot Tim Sawyer said security was tested regularly and it was reviewing its procedures to ensure that nothing similar happened in the future.

He added: "While we take this issue very seriously, we would like to reassure you that at no stage would anybody have been able to get access to your money."