 Borrowing and debt have continued to rise |
A UK Government drive to tackle the country's debt crisis has won backing from Citizens Advice Scotland. The organisation said it had been sounding the alarm bell that personal debt is out of control for some time.
Debt is the single biggest issue that Scots take to their local Citizens Advuce Bureau (CAB).
The Office for Fair Trading is launching its Help Yourself Out campaign to urge people not to ignore their debts and to seek impartial advice.
Last year Scotland's 70 frontline bureaux handled debt totalling �90m.
It is estimated that excluding mortgages, each Scottish household owes almost �7,000. The new move comes amid concern that the pressures of Christmas often drive people to borrow more.
Citizens Advice Scotland has called on legislation to be tightened up on companies which push credit aggressively and irresponsibly at people who cannot afford it.
Chief executive Kaliani Lyle said: "It's headline news when mortgage interest rates and the number of people in negative equity goes up.
"But what about the number of people who are thrown into debt simply through trying to buy Christmas presents for their children, or having to pay an electricity bill or repair a cooker?
"The poorest among us are often charged interest rates that would outrage even the most comfortably off."
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The poorest among us are often charged interest rates that would outrage even the most comfortably off 
