Shoppers bought £2 billion worth of food and drink on their credit cards last December - 25 per cent more than in 2006.

Figures released by the Association of Payment Clearing Services (Apacs) show that the UK's 31.5 million credit card holders spent £32.3 billion in the last three months of 2007.

They said that repayment of credit card debts was at 96 per cent last year, one point lower than 2006.

“The repayment data is key. People are repaying more on their credit cards than they were five years ago,” said Sandra Quinn chief executive of Apacs. “We would be really concerned if repayments had stayed at under 90 per cent like they were in 2001-02.”

Credit charities have warned they are being flooded with calls from worried debtors however, and say they are concerned about the number of people getting into unmanageable debt.

“As household budgets are squeezed, people may start to use their credit cards to pay for shopping. This is a warning sign,” said Chris Tapp of debt charity Credit Action. “While some people will be taking advantage of special credit card deals to earn points or cash back, many others will be simply using their card to put off paying the bill.”