Rising use of credit cards has been counter acted by a general decline in unsecured credit borrowing, new Bank of England figures show.

Data for October 2009 has indicated that credit card borrowing rose by a net £134m during the month.

However, this increase was set against other forms of consumer credit, with borrowing for unsecured lending excluding credit cards, dropping by £713m.

Commenting on this net decline in consumer credit, Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "The record, and fourth, successive net repayment in consumer credit in October is clearly the consequence of many consumers' desire to reduce their debt, low demand for credit and a lack of availability of unsecured credit from banks."

Net mortgage lending continued to increase though, up to £922m, according to the central bank. This reflects improving conditions in the property market, with house prices having risen during the summer.

Increased credit provision could also have resulted from the Bank of England's quantitative easing policy, which has printed around £175bn of new cash for the economy since March 2009.