Having a credit card account closed due to non-payment can seriously damage a consumer's credit rating, according to a price comparison website.

Research carried out by the price comparison site found that Yorkshire was the area within the UK, to have the highest number of people with closed accounts due to non-payment at 35%.

Residents in the North East and East Anglia fell below the national average of 13%, with just 8% having their accounts cancelled.

Joanne Garcia, head of credit cards at the website said: "Credit card users in all regions need to understand how damaging it can be to miss repayments.

“While it may not seem like a big deal to miss a few payments here and there, credit providers - which include mortgage lenders - leave no stone unturned when it comes to checking a person's credit worthiness.

“If they see a history of non-payments it makes it much more difficult to borrow money.”