natwest

Personal debt in Britain has grown by more than 30% according to a new survey.

The average Brit now owes £5,886 excluding mortgage repayments according to research undertaken by fairinvestment.co.uk.

The figure represents a 30% increase from the same month last year, based on the findings of a similar study from Credit Action, which calculated that the average Briton was facing a combined credit card, store card and personal loan debt of £4,524.

The merger of HBOS and Lloyds TSB is likely to have a major impact on unemployment figures in the UK. The merger has been estimated to incur up to 40,000 job losses and 1,000 branch closures. As many families across the country struggle through these difficult economic times, it is a further blow to employees of HBOS and Lloyds whose job situation is potentially unstable. The job cuts are set to happen due to overlaps as the merger takes effect.