Consumers should use the unsecured credit offered on store cards wisely, an industry expert has suggested.

David Kuo, head of personal finance at the Motley Fool, suggested that despite store card providers now being required to state on their receipts if they charge more than 25 per cent in interest, Britons should do more to avoid "serious financial headaches".

He said: "Consumers do need to be warned of what they are signing up for at the time of applying for a store card - it’s too late after they have incurred debts that they can’t afford."

Mr Kuo added that those looking to manage their debt should look to pay off card balances in full as soon as possible.

In March, he suggested that unsecured loan consumers should be cautious of "sneaky" charges applied to their borrowing.

According to financial charity Credit Action consumer credit lending accounted for £213 billion at the end of February, with Secured Loans reported to be worth about £1,097 billion.

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