Gap year students who head off overseas with their credit card need to make sure they are paying back the money they borrow, an expert has emphasised.

Paul Lewis, vice-president of Credit Confidential, explained that doing some research before travelling will help to avoid excessive fees.

"It's very easy for someone not used to having a credit card to forget to pay for a couple of months, while very rapidly black marks are being added to their credit history," he continued,

Mr Lewis stressed that this is something that can be extremely hard to put right further down the line, so it is worth keeping on top of finances as early as possible.

Standard Life recently found that UK adults with plastic cards spend £3,804 on credit card payments each year, which equates to around £317 every month.

Those who save money, on the other hand, put away an average of £1,680 into savings accounts and ISAs.