A growing number of well-to-do Britons are now seeking help with debt problems as the credit crisis deepens, it has been revealed.

A BBC report quoting a charity said unemployment and housing market slump have caused a “fundamental shift” in the nature of debt in the country.

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) added that 12 per cent of its nearly 100,000 client base had a household income of more than £30,000 last year, a rise from 8.7 per cent in 2007.

Debt problems, explained the country’s biggest debt management charity, were becoming more complex, harder to resolve and affected a wider cross-section of society than in recent years.

Despite people seeking help with debt were, on average, actually better off and owed less money than previously, it was found that they were finding it more difficult to pay off debts.

“When unemployment triggers a debt problem, the fall in income can leave the borrower struggling to service both mortgage and unsecured debts, while the fall in house prices and growth in negative equity, take away the option of selling to clear the mortgage,” chairman, Malcolm Hurlston said.