PEOPLE in Chard, Ilminster and Crewkerne and surrounding villages have been urged to make sure that they are financially literate' and understand credit and debt issues.

The call from Yeovil MP David Laws comes following cross-party support for Credit Awareness Week.

Credit Awareness Week aims to help the British public gain better control of their financial affairs.

With the aim of educating the public and helping to ease credit concerns, the campaign is being organised by Credit Today magazine together with an expert group of partner organisations including Experian, The British Bankers Association and the Consumer Credit Counselling Service.

More than 80 per cent of Britons admit to regularly overspending and millions are driven to consider last resort measures such as bankruptcy, according to new research published today CreditExpert.co.uk, sponsor of Credit Awareness Week. Regional figures show that in the South West region, this figure is slightly lower, at 78 per cent.

Almost a quarter of Brits admit to finding it hard to control their spending and claim financial matters are hard to understand.

Mr Laws said: "With national debt levels continuing to rise, it is vital that people can understand financial jargon and the conditions of any loans and credit cards that they have taken out.

"There are a lot of places that consumers can turn to for help and advice and www.creditawarenessweek.co.uk is an excellent start to help people find their way."