THE Co-operative Bank's internet bank -- smile -- has identified a new advertising medium.

Stickers carrying the bank's logo and the words "Top Banana" are appearing on bananas at Co-op stores across Britain.

Mr Bob Head, Chief Executive of smile -- pictured right -- said: "Britons eat more than five billion bananas each year and they are such a smiley fruit that we thought it was the perfect way to advertise our message."

He added: "Advertising on fruit is not really what you would expect from a bank, but then again, smile was Britain's first full-service internet bank and has continued to break with traditional banking advertising practice since it launched almost two years ago."