A number of new measures have been proposed to help tackle growing credit card debt in the UK.

The UK Cards Association has said that the industry needs to reduce the cost of paying off debts, which may encourage people to be more sensible with their spending.

Melanie Johnson, Chair of the UK Cards Association, commented: "Our approach will deliver big improvements to customers without smothering competition and choice, which customers value and gain significant benefit from."

Consumers who rely on their credit cards and who make minimum repayments are to be advised that this is not the most effective way of paying off debts and can often be the most expensive.

It has also been suggested that a quarter of credit card accounts will be helped out if repayments are allocated to the most expensive debts first.

Unsolicited credit limit increases will also face a clampdown, while any customer offered a rise will be provided with a 30-day notice period during which they can opt out of the agreement.

"The credit card industry is keen to give consumers as much control of their finances as possible," Ms Johnson revealed.

She noted that the changes which are being proposed to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills are based on information which has been obtained from a variety of independent sources.

Among the other changes will be the re-pricing of existing debts, with the industry set to provide a leaflet on so-called risk-based re-pricing.

Nationwide Building Society recently found that 56 per cent of credit card customers would be left angry if they discovered that their credit card provider paid off their cheapest debt first.

Of those questioned, 63 per cent said they still do not understand the order in which their repayments are allocated.