Christmas Has Gone And The Bills Are Clearly Fat

The financial hangover from Christmas has begun to take its toll with record numbers ringing debt helplines.

The Citizens Advice Bureau have said their debt advice lines have had more calls than normal for January.

National Debtline has had 12,000 calls since 3 January - making it the busiest month since it was set up in 1987.

The group put the surge down to more public awareness that help is available rather than a jump in debt levels.

"Calls are certainly up and we are taking on another 25 staff, " National Debtline spokesman Richard Gale said.

Mounting bills

He added that calls to the group usually rose following the Christmas period as people began to take stock of their spending.

The average caller to the service owed between £5,000 and £15,000, he added.

In 2004 UK consumer debt broke through the £1 trillion mark, driven mainly by lending against properties, prompting stark warnings of future debt problems.

However, the most recent data from the Bank of England has shown that the appetite for debt among consumers appears to be waning.

Last month, figures from the Bank showed the growth rate of consumer credit - such as credit cards and bank loans - fell to just 9.8% a year in November, the slowest rate of growth recorded since September 1994.