Mortgage and household bill fears have caused a surge in the number of people seeking debt advice from the Citizen’s Advice a BBC report has found.

Its study found that in January and February this year there were 35 per cent more mortgage queries than the same time last year.

Higher household expenses also led to 215,000 new debt enquiries for the service, although the number of people with credit card problems was down by 9 per cent in the first two months of the year.

CAB’s Teresa Perchard says: “It is a worrying trend that our bureaux are reporting very sharp increases in the number of mortgage arrears problems they are dealing with.

“The combination of big increases in household bills, especially fuel, and rising housing costs is putting additional pressure on people’s finances when they are already stretched to the limit.”

Chiltern’s Nathan Gladwell says: “People in debt should tell their creditors straight away if they are facing difficulties in paying.

“It’s also worth seeking impartial advice as to all of the available options for repaying debts, as advisers will be aware of suitable courses of action to take regarding payment plans and maximising income.

“Citizen’s Advice and Chiltern can both handle people’s debt enquiries, although with Chiltern there is no need to wait months for an appointment to become available as you can speak to an independent adviser immediately about your situation.”