Survey highlights problem of 'extreme debt' in UK

“Extreme debt” is becoming a problem for more and more British people, who owe sums running into six figures, according to the country’s biggest debt management charity.

In a survey of its 60,000 clients, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service found that more than 800 people had loans totalling £100,000 (€145,000) or more.

One person was nearly £1m (€1.4m) in debt, though some of this was believed to be linked to failed business ventures.

Details of the survey, released on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, showed that nearly 2,500 people owed sums worth 66 times their monthly income or more.

In many cases, individuals had been enabled to run up massive debts by taking out multiple credit cards.

More than 200 people questioned in the survey had 15 or more cards, while one individual had accumulated 48.

The charity called on lenders to share information better, in order to avoid cases of extreme debt.