Loan sharks received “an early Christmas present” yesterday when the Financial Conduct Authority unveiled long-awaited new rules on the industry that will still allow big fees and massive profits.

So-called payday lenders will face limits from January 2 on the amount they can charge people borrowing often small amounts of cash to make ends meet.

But they will still be able to charge interest and fees of up to 24 per cent a month and up to 100 per cent in total.

Fixed penalties will be capped at £15.

Campaigner Stella Creasy MP angrily condemned the FCA measures, warning that they won’t be enough to end the era of “legal loan sharks.”

The authority’s chief executive Martin Wheatley claimed the rules, which will see fees and interest capped at 0.8 per cent a day and 100 per cent in total, were “the right balance for firms and consumers.”

They mean that a person taking out a £100 loan for 30 days could be hit with £24 in charges — still a far higher rate than other forms of borrowing.

The cap will not be reviewed again until 2017.

Shadow competition and consumer affairs minister Ms Creasy said: “Today’s news will be welcomed as an early Christmas present for Britain’s legal loan-sharks.

“Yet again these sharks have slipped through the net.

“We’ve warned regulators this cap needs to be much lower to really change the behaviour of these companies.”

Ms Creasy demanded: “The FCA must commit to reviewing the level of the cap and what it covers within a year.”

The new limits on payday lenders were welcomed by charity Citizens Advice, which has been flooded with cases where people have seen debts spiral out of control.

The cap meant lenders could no longer “force borrowers into an endless spiral of debt,” said chief executive Gillian Guy.

This would prevent the most “serious cases in which sky-high interest and extortionate fees turn a small loan into an unmanageable debt.”

But he warned that the FCA would need to “keep a close eye on whether lenders are sticking to the rules.”