Chester-le-Street in Durham and Camberley in Surrey have earned the dubious accolade of being the most indebted towns in Britain.

Residents of Chester-le-Street have racked up the biggest loan debts in Britain, owing an average of £3,470.79 each on personal loans and hire purchase agreements. Inhabitants of Camberley are experts are at flexing their plastic, owing more than £2,000 each on credit cards, according to research from Confused.com, the price-comparison website.

The statistics came as separate data showed that hire-purchase agreements jumped by a quarter in March as struggling retailers tried to lure customers with “buy now, pay later” deals. Despite a drop in other forms of lending during the month, in-store credit agreements, at £231 million, were 24 per cent higher than March last year, figures from the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) show.

While official figures suggest that Britons are repaying their debts at record rates as they pull in their horns in the face of rising unemployment and falling wages, Confused.com has calculated that the average Briton still owes more in loans, credit cards and mortgage debt than they earn each year. It says that workers owe £1.02 for every £1 they earn.

Homeowners and tenants in Kingston-upon-Thames, southwest London, are the most indebted, owing an average of 169 per cent of their annual income, while those in Watford owe 166 per cent. Those living in Manchester are the most frugal, the figures suggest, owing 51 per cent of their salary in outstanding debt.The figures suggest that southeners prefer using plastic, as the ten areas with the biggest credit card debts are all in the South of England and many are in London or within commuting distance of the capital.

Camberley tops the list, with residents labouring under credit card debts averaging £2,001. Bromley, Kent, is a close second, with inhabitants facing average credit card bills of £1,926. In contrast, those in Dumfries in southern Scotland owe the least, with outstanding balances averaging £742.

Gemma Stanbury, head of savings, loans and debts for Confused.com said: “It seems there are different approaches to spending applied in the North and South. Higher spending on plastic in the South could be explained by credit cards being more readily available for these residents, as they earn higher salaries. Or it could be down to the fact that residents in the South have higher mortgages, which may lead to the need to top up with more short-term lending.”

However the areas where people have racked up debts through taking out personal loans and hire purchase agreements is more varied.

Coming second to Chester-le-Street for the size of personal loans is Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, where residents owe an average of £2,974 each. Motherwell, close to Glasgow in North Lanarkshire, has the third-highest loan debts.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, those living in the wealthy enclave of Kensington in Central London have the smallest outstanding loan balances, owing £1,264 each. Residents in Northern Ireland and Birmingham are also more circumspect about loans and hire purchase agreements, owing £1,359 and £1,405, respectively.

Sinking in debt

Areas with highest credit card debts
(average per person)

Camberley, Surrey £2,001

Bromley, Kent £1,926

Bracknell, Surrey £1,876

St Albans, Hertfordshire £1,870

Bishops Stortford, Herts £1,853

Barnet, London £1,848

Watford, London £1,841

Woking, Surrey £1,835

Haywards Heath, W Sussex £1,782

Windsor, Berkshire £1,770

Areas with biggest personal loans
(average debt per person)

Chester-le-street, Durham £3,470

Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire £2,974

Motherwell, N Lanarkshire £2,932

Harlow, Essex £2,887

East Kilbride, S Lanarkshire £2,851

Hamilton, S Lanarkshire £2,825

Tamworth, Staffordshire £2,817

Lakeside, Essex £2,798

Falkirk, Stirling and Falkirk £2,793

Lichfield, Staffordshire £2,776

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