Debt advice lines are reporting large increases in the volume of calls they are receiving compared to the same period last year despite largely unchanged debt levels, reports www.thisislondon.co.uk today.

Debt advice group Debt Free Direct has recently announced it has received more than 17,000 calls between December 27 and January 8.  This figure represents 177 calls an hour and double the volume of calls it experienced during the post Christmas period last year.  It added that for the week beginning January 9, calls were three times higher than they had been in 2005.

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service said it took 9,310 calls during the first nine working days of the year, nearly 14% more than it did during the same period of 2005.

National Debtline also reported huge demand, receiving just under 13,000 calls between January 3 and lunchtime on Friday January 13.

Debt Free Direct said that 70% of the people who contacted it for help were male, with the average person aged around 38 and in full-time employment.  Callers owed an average of £28,698 to around six different creditors, about £200 more than they did last year.

But Debt Free Direct said the fact that people's average debt levels were largely unchanged year on year suggested that the surge in calls was driven by people being more aware of their finances and where they could go for hep, rather than by an increase in the level of debt people had taken on.

Andrew Redmond, chief executive of Debt Free Direct, said: "We always experience high call volumes immediately after Christmas but the demand for help this year has been unprecedented."