Credit card customers are being urged to seek debt advice from professionals before going into deep financial trouble.

The advice came from the national charity, Money Advice Trust (MAT) after a study by Credit Action found that personal debt in the UK had increased to nearly £1.5 billion in June.

MAT stated that the recession is still having a negative impact on Brits after it witnessed a surge in the number of calls to its helpline, with some 41,000 borrowers seeking debt advice last month.

A spokesperson from the firm, Beccy Wilks said: "If you are worried you might be getting into difficulty and you feel a drop in income might be on the horizon or are anticipating problems coming up, it is vital you get help earlier rather than later."

She added: "When getting debt advice you need to know about everything including the pros and cons and you need to get complete information on how all options of debt handling are going to affect you."

Tom Howard of the Consumer Credit Counselling Service recently warned Brits that shifting debt onto credit cards will place them a step closer to seeing their finances spiral out of control.

He said: "You need to take steps to confront your situation, and rectify it as soon as possible, and your first step should be to make a strict and truthful budget that will set out your finances and help you see where you are overspending."