PEOPLE in the south east are among the least worried about debt before Christmas, new research has found.

Insolvency trade body R3  say the majority of people in the south east say they don't have any debts and are not worried about finances before Christmas.

Experts from the southern committee of R3, which brings together insolvency practitioners from local accountancy, legal and recovery firms, say that overall it’s a positive outlook for the region.

The statistics look at adults’ day-to-day dealings with debt, as well as their attitudes towards spending at Christmas and in the future.

DEBTS AND WORRY
• People in the South East are among the least worried in the UK about their current level of debt. The majority of people in the South East (60.2%) are not worried about their current level of debt.

• Nearly half of adults in the South East (48.8%) say they don’t have any debts.

• Of those in the South East worried about their level of debt, 45.5% are worried about credit card debt.

SPENDING AT CHRISTMAS
• The majority of people in the South East (75.8%) are not intending to make use of credit or loan products in order to pay for extra costs at Christmas.

DAILY LIFE
• 36.8% of people in the South East sometimes or often struggle to make it to payday.

• The most common reasons for people struggling in the lead up to payday in the South East are the rising cost of food (47%) and rising housing energy costs (41.7%).

SAVINGS AND THE FUTURE
• Around 1 in 5 people in the South East (20.9%) don’t have any savings.

• 21.7% think their personal financial situation will improve over the next six months.

• The vast majority of people in the South East are shunning payday loans. 89.7% say they’re unlikely to seek one out in the next six months.

Andrew Watling, chairman of the soutern committee of R3, the insolvency trade body and a director at Quantuma in Southampton, said: "The results of this latest research paint a positive picture.

"It’s reassuring that the majority of people in the South East have no debts and don’t feel like they’ll need to make use of credit or loan products to make this Christmas a happy one."