And finally…one million Scots still paying off last Christmas

The average outstanding debt is £515 – suggesting that around £500 million borrowed last Christmas is still outstanding.

Overall, 47 per cent of Scots say that they borrowed money to help pay for last Christmas.

Less than half of them say that they have now cleared the debt.

But, with less than 6 weeks to go until the festive season, last Christmas’ debt is still hanging around for many.

Of those that borrowed money last Christmas and still haven’t cleared it, almost 1 in 5 (19 per cent) say that they still owe more than £1,000.

UK-wide people under 35 are the most likely to have borrowed money to pay for Christmas 2015 – with 52 per cent of 18-24s and 59 per cent of 25-34s saying that they did so.

They are also the least likely age groups to have paid off last year’s borrowing with a third (24 per cent and 36 per cent respectively) saying that they have yet to clear their balance.

By contrast, 64 per cent of people over 55 say that they didn’t borrow money last Christmas.

It seems that many of us are being less than honest about the state of our finances: whilst almost half of adults say that they borrowed money last Christmas, just 16 per cent of Scots claim that they will need to do so this year.

Debt expert, Melanie Taylor, at Debt Advisory Centre, said: “For those Scots with little or no savings and who are just making ends meet month to month, there is little choice but to borrow if they want to buy presents and other Christmas treats.

“Many of these people have no slack in their budget, so finding money to make the repayments in the New Year will be a struggle. It is no surprise that January and February is the busiest time for many debt advice providers.”