Fears of spiralling debt as ‘buy now pay later’ credit quadruples in UK

Campaigners and MPs demand regulation of the sector as struggling consumers increasingly use the deals to buy everyday essentials

Ministers are being urged to intervene over a surge in unregulated buy now, pay later" credit after the amount UK consumers spend online using such deals rose up to 1.7bn a month.

Debt advisers warn that many people are routinely resorting to deferred payments to buy household essentials. Any consumer who then misses payments risks seeing their case turned over to debt collectors.