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The charity said that it had noticed many more middle-class families – people who owned their own businesses and home owners – approaching them for advice.

In total the charity, which is mostly funded by public money, dealt with 7.1 million cases, more than a million extra on the previous year’s tally of 6 million. It said that 2.1 million individuals had received advice from their local bureaux in total, up from 1.9 million the year before.

One area that saw the biggest increase was fuel debts. In total the charity dealt with 110,000 cases where someone could not afford to pay their gas or electricity bill – nearly as many people who could not afford to pay their mortgage.

Teresa Perchard, director of policy at the charity, said: “Some groups such as pensioners have received extra help through winter fuel payments. But people of working age but on low income have found it very difficult to pay these bills.” The average gas and electricity bill only fell by about 5 per cent last year and is still £1,200 on average.

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A new campaign by charity Citizens Advice will see credit card provider Barclaycard join in the awareness raising initiative to stop people falling into debt over Christmas.

Barclaycard has teamed up with the charity Citizens Advice in order to warn consumers of the dangers of going into debt over Christmas by spending too much money on credit cards.

Citizens Advice Bureaux in the UK have dealt with three million separate people with a collective ten million financial problems over the last two years as a result of the recession, 3.06 million of which were related to troubles with credit card charges.

The credit card issuer has provided a list of tips to help people avoid getting into debt, including budgeting Christmas spending and paying by cash, cheque or debit card where possible.

Consumers should also keep on top of their bills, making sure they pay credit card companies back on time to avoid arrears spiralling out of control, Barclaycard said.

David Harker, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Bureaux are responding to increased demand by extending their opening hours and rolling out initiatives such as the Christmas top tips leaflets, to encourage people to seek advice as early as possible.”

Amer Sajed, chief executive of Barclaycard UK, added: “It’s all too easy to overspend, so we are encouraging people to decide how much they can afford and to seek advice as early as possible if they are getting into difficulties.”

Consumers who cannot escape putting the cost of Christmas on plastic should apply to credit card issuers now before rates are hiked in the run up to the festive period, it was recently said. Read more…