Girl, 7, runs up £250 bill in an HOUR buying clothes for virtual pet on Facebook

A seven-year-old girl racked up a £250 bill in under an hour after playing a game on Facebook.

Megan Fox, from Birmingham, spent the money while sitting next to her parents on 'Petville' which allows users to purchase virtual clothes and furniture for a make-believe pet.

On returning from school, Megan had asked her parents if she could play the game.

As her parents don't allow her to have her own Facebook account, her father Mathew, 35, let her log in to his account so he could supervise her.

Out of pocket: Megan Fox with her father Mathew. She ran up a £250 bill after playing a game on Facebook while sitting next to her parents

He said: 'She was sat next to me playing the game, asking me and her mum which dresses we preferred.

'We played along, suggesting which ones to buy, not realising that she was actually spending money.'

Mathew had forgotten to log off his stored Paypal payment details on the computer before she started playing - which meant that she ran up a bill without even realising.

It was only an hour after Megan had finished playing when Mathew checked his e-mails that he realised what had happened. He found four receipts on his iPad, one for almost U.S. $170.

'I got all these receipts from Paypal. I opened the e-mails and added them all up. I found that she'd spent $400 dollars,' he said.

Staff at the social networking site and Paypal, who process the online transactions, have so far refused to refund the money.

In e-mails to the couple, they said that, because the payment was made by someone within the Fox household, the rules for unauthorised transactions do not apply.

Popular: Petville allows users to purchase furniture and clothing for a virtual 'pet'

Dawn, 33, and Mathew said that they were 'shocked' when the receipts came through.

Mathew said: 'We couldn't believe that she'd spent all that money in such a short time, but we thought that something could be done about it.

'But both Facebook and Paypal have replied basically saying tough, she's in your household so its authorised.'

Under the site's rules, if someone in the account holder's household, or somebody known to them makes an unauthorised online purchase, they are not eligible for a refund.

Megan's mother Dawn said: 'I think it's outrageous that, not once in four transactions, were we asked to confirm any details. If something had come up she'd have asked her dad and he would've clocked on.

'It was only because of the e-mails that we realised. If we hadn't got the e-mails my bank account would be completely empty.'

The pair called for more security measures to ensure that children can't accidentally spend their parents' money.

Mathew said: 'Megan was unaware. She's only seven. Surely spending four hundred dollars in less than an hour must raise alarm bells.

'I've had phone calls from my bank's fraud department whilst doing Christmas shopping before, querying why I was spending so much money.'

Dawn and Mathew said that, with Christmas approaching, £250 is a lot to lose.

Dawn said: 'We've spent all that money and got nothing physical to show for it. Megan does ballet and she needed a new tutu this month.

'I've had to buy a second-hand one that doesn't even fit her properly because of the money we lost on Facebook.

'But at least she's dressed her little pet nicely.'

Megan's parents said she was 'heartbroken' when she realised how much of their money she had spent.

Dawn said: 'She asked me to e-mail Facebook and ask them if they could wait until she'd saved up enough of her own money to pay them back. She's good as gold.'

A spokesman for Facebook said: 'The parent needs to take responsibility for adding their details to a Facebook account. The terms make it very clear that what you're doing is adding your payment details and once you buy something it's bought.

'It shows how parents need to be much more responsible for how their children use the internet.'