Credit card lending remained tight during October 2009, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) has revealed.

Overall, consumer credit lending including credit cards and personal loans, showed a net decline of £100m compared to September.

This signals that many Britons are reducing their borrowing in order to spend within their means in the recession.

The BBA figures also showed that mortgage lending increased by £3.1bn compared to the previous month.

In addition to this, the statistics revealed that the number of approved loans for home purchases rose by almost 5% when compared to October 2008.

BBA statistics director, David Dooks, said: "The longer it takes to emerge from recession, the longer we will see households and businesses continue to borrow with caution."

He added: "The banks' mortgage lending, still growing by more than 4% a year, shows one aspect of consumer behaviour but unsecured borrowing is subdued and people are building up deposits.

"A mixture of lower business demand, alternative corporate funding and tighter lending conditions, all giving rise to the on-going contraction in lending to non-financial companies, is a reflection of current market conditions," Mr. Dooks said.