Low interest rates have helped consumers to rack up debt at a record rate, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England.

Total lending rose by �9.4bn in December, the highest monthly increase since records began in 1993.

That represents a seasonally adjusted annual increase of 13.6%.

In addition, mortgage lending surged �7.4bn last month, a sharp increase from �5.2bn back in December 2001.

	:	Debt ridden Britain
How much do we owe?

There is growing concern that the high level of personal debt in the UK is making the economy more fragile.

Consumer spending has been the mainstay of the UK's resilience in the face of a global economic slowdown, but the spending has been at the expense of rising debt levels.

Housing boom

The strong growth in mortgage lending in December is surprising as traditionally the housing market slows in the run up to Christmas.

The figures will support the argument that the UK housing market is still growing strongly.

The latest survey from Nationwide showed that the annual rate of house price growth increased again in January - from 25.3% to 26.5%.

Consumer credit grew by �1.9bn, which was stronger than the �1.6bn analysts had expected.

However, the spending on credit cards was �150m lower than for the same period in 2001 as concerns about the economy forced shoppers to tighten their belts slightly.