STEPHEN LEWIS seeks advice on how to pay off those festive season debts.

THE Christmas and New Year spending spree may be over. But instead of putting our feet up and heaving a sigh of relief, many of us are just beginning to realise how much we've actually spent.

Around about now, the credit card bills will be starting to thump on to the doormat - and if we can be sure about one thing, it's that the size of the bills won't be a pleasant surprise.

Britons are now the biggest plastic spenders in the European Union. Figures from the Office of Fair Trading reveal the average debt per person in this country (excluding mortgages) is a staggering £2,500.

It's easy to forget just how much in debt we are, because many people spread their spending over different credit cards. There are an astonishing 1,300 different types of credit and debit card in the UK now - including store cards, loyalty cards and the good old-fashioned Mastercard and Visa - all exhorting us to take advantage of seemingly attractive credits terms to spend, spend, spend.

That's never more true than over Christmas and the New Year.

Patrick Torsney, service manager at York Citizens' Advice Bureau, says many people find it difficult to resist the pressures on them to spend more than they should at this time of year.

"There is massive advertising in the run-up to Christmas, and people do respond to that," he says. "It's followed through after Christmas with the sales, where everything is such a bargain. People just don't comprehend the dangers of using plastic in this way."

The result is that, lured by the glossy pre-Christmas adverts and the temptations of the winter sales, many people end up juggling debts on several different credit cards - and can easily find their finances spiralling out of control.

"You can frequently get a situation where a person has four or five credit cards running, and is paying the minimum amount on each, each month," Patrick says.

"But all they're doing is paying the interest each month. They're not actually paying off any of the debt itself. That way, you will never get on top of it."

Taking advantage of offers in shops to spread payments over a number of years may only add to your debt problems. Goods bought in this way are likely to cost more in the long run because of interest and insurance, and so will only add to your debt.

But if it suddenly all seems too much and you can't see any way out of the debt trap, the answer is not to bury your head in the sand and just hope it will go away, says Patrick.

What you should do instead is take a long, hard look at your finances, decide how much you can afford to pay each month to pay off your debts without damaging the quality of your life too much - and then get on with it.

Here is the Patrick's advice on how to get your debts under control:

1 Find out exactly how much you owe

2 Work out how much you can afford to pay - it may be only a few pounds per week or month

3 Deal with priorities first - rent/ mortgage, council tax, fuel - and contact the people responsible to arrange repayments

4 Divide the rest of your available income among your other creditors, with the biggest share going to the biggest debt

5 If creditors threaten you with the County Court, don't panic. The court will only make a judgement that is fair to you and to the creditor - and the creditors are unlikely to take it that far anyway if you make a reasonable offer of payment.

For help and advice contact the Citizens' Advice Bureau on 01904 636066.