According to the Office for National Statistics’ latest Wealth and Asset Survey, in terms of average household personal debt (excluding mortgages) the East Midland owes the highest on credit cards, store cards, overdrafts and personal loans compared to the national average of £7,500.

Chartered Financial Planner Scott Gallacher of Leicester based independent financial advisers, Rowley Turton points out that this is a worrying trend. He said: “The East Midlands is a relatively prosperous area when looking at the UK as a whole, so to see us leap to the top of the debt figures is not a good sign.

“Whilst I appreciate times are tough, we all need to be aware that debt has a nasty habit of snowballing and people need to get their finances back on track before it’s too late.”

The situation has also worsened considerably since the study was last conducted 2 years ago.

At that time the East Midlands was in line with the national average of £7,000; however since then the average person in the East Midlands has increased their debt by 30% from £7,000 to £9,100.

The area with the lowest average personal debt is Wales with £5,600, up £400 from two years ago.