Cyber Monday … and a new year deep in the red for Britain’s households?

A sharp rise in personal borrowing has led to fears that families are storing up financial trouble

Black Friday, the day of discounted deals and shopper madness imported from the US, passed last week without the scuffles, fights and mini-riots that came to mark last year's event. But the relatively quiet aisles and slowly revolving doors of Britain's high-street stores masked an unseen online spending frenzy that analysts believe happened on Friday and will continue this weekend into Cyber Monday today, another discount day, and will add to a predicted bumper Christmas for retailers.

Shoppers are expected to blow a total of 16.5bn between now and the big day, on everything from Star Wars droids to sprouts - up 2.5% on 2014.