Debt charities are gearing up for the busiest January on record as the financial hangover from an expensive Christmas kicks in. The Consumer Credit Counselling Service and Credit Action, two leading debt charities, predicted that they would receive more calls from borrowers worried about their finances this January than in previous years.

The credit crunch, coupled with five interest-rate rises, has left tens of thousands of borrowers struggling. It was hoped that the 0.25 per cent cut in the interest rate at the beginning of the month would ease the burden on homeowners, but many mortgage lenders have yet to pass it on.

In addition, shoppers have spent an estimated £34 billion on their credit cards this month, up from £31 billion last December, according to the Association of Payment Clearing Services, the credit card industry body.

A spokesman from CCCS said: “We expect just under 34,000 calls to our helpline in January 2008, 5 per cent higher than in 2007.”

Chris Tapp, of Credit Action, said: “It could certainly be our busiest January and February ever. People are now more concerned about the economy than they have been for a long time.”

Charities are also expecting more calls from homeowners concerned about making their next mortgage repayments. Mr Tapp said: “The nature of calls might be slightly different. It used to be about unsecured credit, but mortgages are becoming a much bigger problem than they were as rising living costs squeeze homeowners.”

Mortgage lenders have urged borrowers to contact them immediately if they think they could fall behind with their mortgage repayments payments. The number of home repossessions is set to rise this year by 50 per cent next year to 45,000, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Citizen’s Advice said that it, too, was expecting a sharp rise in the number of people seeking help to deal with their debts. Moira Haynes, a spokeswoman, said: “We know from experience that there is a seasonal surge of people who come to see us about their debt problems postChristmas, and we know that the trend in debt inquiries is inexorably upwards. There is no reason to believe that there will be any let-up in this trend.”

More than half of people believe that money worries are the chief cause of stress, according to a survey from the Samaritans.

A spokeswoman for the Samaritans said: “January is a particularly bleak time with credit card bills arriving and the short, dark days.”

Banks are also turning down an increasing number of credit card applications in an effort to reduce their exposure to debt. Last year about 33 per cent of applications were rejected. Now banks are rejecting between 40 and 50 per cent of applications.

Some banks have also increased interest rates on credit cards and cut credit limits for some borrowers.

But some banks are offering cheaper loans to boost their share of the market. From tomorrow the Alliance & Leicester will offer an instant cash loan at 6.9 per cent for those who have their application accepted in a branch before midday.

Those worried about their debts can get help and advice from www.advice-guide.org.uk. Thousands of Britons swamped eBay, the online auction site, yesterday to offload an estimated £1.2 billion worth of unwanted Christmas gifts.

Books, CDs, DVDs and clothes were all being offered for sale on the site, which ran the slogan “eBay’s perfect for any gift that’s not perfect for you” on its home page.

Among the dud gifts were a copy of the autobiography of Kerry Katona, the former singer of Atomic Kitten, still showing its opening bid price of 99p with 29 minutes of bidding left.

Hundreds of Nintendo Wii games consoles, sold out in shops before Christmas, suddenly surfaced online, selling for almost three times their suggested retail price of £180. It is estimated that eBay will take six million new listings in the next week.