People in the UK are relying on credit card spending more than ever, new research from Save Our Savers suggests.

The group found that £1.75 billion has been added to outstanding debts this year on the amount accrued in 2010.

It referred to comments from David Cameron at the Conservative Party conference, who suggested more people are taking steps to pay down their debts.

However, it seems that this is not the case, as although headline debt totals have fallen, this is only because banks have written off bad credit card debts.

Save Our Savers spokesperson Simon Rose commented: "Clearly, the UK's household debt problem is not going away.

"Keeping base rates at an artificially low level of 0.5 per cent for almost three years has convinced people that interest rates will remain low."

He acknowledged that the base rate will have to rise at some stage, but many households will not be prepared for the shock.