The total personal debt mountain in the UK has risen by £9billion in just one month.

Latest figures released show that in Britain the level of individual debt has risen from £1,421 billion in Feb to £1,430 billion at the end of March. Britain’s personal debt is currently rising by £1m every five minutes.

Homeowners have seen their mortgage repayments increase considerably in the last year. The total amount of interest payments in the UK has risen to £93billion with each household paying annual interest of around £3,765 – an increase of £340 on the previous year.

Personal credit through motor and retail loans, overdrafts, unsecured personal loans and credit cards has increased to around £4,835 per adult.

The amount of unsecured loans has also risen sharply. Loans unsecured on properties is up to £1,200 billion - a 9.1 per cent increase compared to the same time last year. At the end of February the total amount was just £1,194 billion.

The total amount of credit lent to individuals in the UK stood at £230 billion at the end of March - a 6.7 per cent increase over the past year.