Consumers are spending more responsibly on store and credit cards, says Thomas Charles.

The debt counselling service claims that people are "more educated" when it comes to credit. It says that people are taking into account the high interest rates that accompany credit and store cards and considering better ways to borrow money.

Consumers are also altering their approach to spending and bearing in mind that they will have to pay the credit back, says company director James Falla.

He commented: "People are starting to wake up a little bit, to take a little bit more responsibility for their spending - particularly with everything going on around them [within] the financial environment.

Research from the company in conjunction with YouGov showed that on average men are in more debt than women. It claimed a total of 15 per cent of Britons are in serious debt and that a quarter will avoid spending on credit cards over Christmas.

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