“Its official” combined borrowings totalling in excess of 1.5 Trillion pounds have cemented the UK’s position as Europe’s most indebted country.

A special debt awareness event organised in part by the Citizens Advice Bureau has made the claim to visitors as part of its opening gambit. Personal debt is reaching dangerous levels and the event has called for both consumer groups and public service officials to combine their efforts, in order to identify the root of the problem. Visitors to the event have received a thorough briefing on the UK’s current debt situation including the exact “height” of the debt mountain, plus the rate at which it is growing.

One of the more surprising revelations to come from the event relates to the rich/poor divide and the effects of debt accumulation. Accordingly, those who live beneath the poverty line are spending up to 4 times more on repaying their debts than those who live above it. The fact that personal debt is weighted more towards those who are already financially stretched is an issue in need of urgent attention.

Delegates to the event include some of Britain’s (and Europe’s) most astute economical experts. Event delegates hope to identify a practical way to regulate and control credit acquisition in the UK, as a means to relieve both individual and national financial stress.