Charity workers said that talking about the problem can lead to solutions and stop people from taking drastic measures, including suicide.

“Debt is often cited as the reason for suicide, but there are usually deeper issues involved,” a spokeswoman from the charity told website This is Money.

“However, credit and financial worries can lead to isolation from the person’s family and friends, which can increase the chances of somebody taking their own life.”

She was commenting after the recent cases of Graham Painter and Robert McKinnie who both hanged themselves after acquiring large debt.

Yet advice is freely available which can provide a solution for debts large and small and people are encouraged by experts to take this out to help them cope with problems.

Worst age overall for debt is 53 – 59, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) said, with one debtor owing a total of £412,000 over 57 credit cards.

Out of the CCCS’ 155,000 clients, the over-50s came out as the worst for debt and the average amount owed by people who seek it for help is now £12,422 over three cards.

This is 50 per cent increase in just three years and the CCCS added that credit card debt was now the most common unsecured debt problem it had to deal with.

Even with credit card spending slowing on average, the over-60s managed to drive their balances up by a third between 2004 and 2005.

News of debt among the older generations follows research from the Prudential last month which showed that over a million pensioners have debts at an average of £15,500 each.

With Britons’ total personal debt rising to £1.2 trillion, the Debt Counsellors urged people to take professional advice before it becomes too late.

Commenting on Britain’s debt levels, John Porter of the counselling firm, said: “These latest figures show the problem of personal debt is getting much worse and there are millions of people in the UK who need professional debt help to tackle their financial difficulties.”

His urgings come amid a background of a stable economy yet average household debt is nearly £50,000, meaning that a change in the economy could plunge many homes into serious financial difficulties.

Mr Potter said that with average debt growing by £200 in just one month, there were “many people” who would benefit from debt advice.

With free advice available, Mr Potter urged consumers to take debt advice “immediately” to give themselves peace of mind and to “safeguard their financial future”.

Around a fifth of Britons told MoneyExpert.com that the latest batch of energy price rises are affecting them, with a quarter of poor households saying that they are “finding it difficult”.

“The rise in energy bills is really hitting home,” said Sean Gardner, chief executive of MoneyExpert.com. “There is a serious squeeze on spending.”

Findings come a week after Powergen became the latest energy firm to have raised their prices twice this year, making energy debt about 60 per cent more than in 2002.

Many are now fearing the creation of “fuel poverty” and the MoneyExpert research found that poor homes are spending twice the proportion of their income on energy than well-off households.

With debt and interest rates rising in conjunction with energy bills, Mr Gardner said that homes were facing increasing pressure just to get by and urged consumers to shop around for energy suppliers.

Philip Cullum, deputy chief executive of the NCC, praised the news that the CC wants to make the home credit loans market more competitive.

Welcoming the overall package of measures, Mr Cullum stated: “The NCC especially welcomes the proposals to oblige home credit lenders to share information on their customers’ payment records – making it easier to switch provider – and for fairer early settlement rebates for customers.”

Earlier this week the CC announced that it plans to make lenders share data and give better price information and statements, as the CC believes that homeowners are paying too much for loans due to a lack of competition.

Mr Cullum said that “overall this package of measures should bring more choice and cheaper loans to the poorest households” and said that changes were “long overdue”.