Politicians, journalists and bankers are the least trusted people in a survey of professions compiled by consumer group Which?

Only seven per cent of those surveyed said they trusted politicians and journalists, while just 11 per cent trusted bankers and estate agents.

Builders also scored badly, while nurses, doctors and teachers were among the most trusted professions.

The survey of 2,000 people also found that two-thirds of respondents think that bankers are unlikely to lose their job if they lie or cheat.

Which? has consequently launched a campaign called Big Change, which is calling for bankers to be forced to follow a code of conduct and "struck off" if they fail to comply.

Customer confidence has been rocked by the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI), which is predicted to become the biggest consumer financial scandal of all time, says The Daily Telegraph.

Around £10 billion has been set aside by banks to cover claims being made by people who were sold insurance they did not want or need. Barclays' Libor-fixing scandal and the IT meltdown which hit NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland customers has also damaged the banking sector’s reputation.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "We thought we'd seen banking at its lowest point when the public were forced to bail out the banks but since then we've seen the Libor rate-rigging scandal and continued mis-selling. All the while the bankers who presided over corruption continue to enjoy hugely inflated pay and bonuses."

Several tweeters commented that the results did not come as a surprise following a bad year for politicians over expenses, journalists involved in hacking and banking scandal upon banking scandal. But the poll at least left some people happy.

One lawyer tweeted: "Yay! Lawyers are now only the EIGHTH least trusted profession. Thank you banking crisis, News of the World, expenses scandal..."

Professions by percentage of people who said they are trustworthy:

1.         Politicians 7%

2.         Journalists 7%

3.         Bankers 11%

4.         Estate agents 11%

5.         Builders 19%

6.         Civil servants 25%

7.         Accountants 29%

8.         Lawyers 35%

9.         Engineers 56%

10.       Teachers 69%

11.       Doctors 80%

12.       Nurses 82%

Politicians, Journalists & Bankers Least Trusted Professions