‘Spring spending leaves Brits with debt hangover’

Data collected by Fool.co.uk demonstrates that during April, May and June 2007 UK consumers went into debt to fund a range of purchases, including musical instruments, holiday homes and to pay for cosmetic surgery.

And the latest statistics show that around one in eight British borrowers took out loans in order to consolidate their debts during the same period.

“Borrowing money may seem like a convenient way to plug a hole in your spending plans,” said David Kuo, head of personal finance at Fool.co.uk.

“But a hole in your budget may be a sign of deeper problems that can often be solved, not by increasing net borrowing but by cutting gross spending.”

In the first three months of this year more than 30,000 UK consumers entered into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement in an effort to find a debt solution, according to data from the Insolvency Service.