Britons 'borrow' £29bn from friends

Credit mad Britons borrow £29bn from friends and family every year, according to a new survey.

Nearly one in four people admitted that they owed cash in the form of IOU's while most had borrowed other items, with the average debtor owing £2,564.

Snacks, money, cigarettes and alcohol were the most regular items to be "borrowed" by Britons, according to the research carried out by financial services firm Egg.

In total, about £3bn goes up in smoke in borrowed cigarettes, while £4.6bn in stamps, pens and other miscellaneous items are loaned.

Most borrowed items Snacks 36% Money 35% Alcohol 30% Books 30% Compact discs 27% Cigarettes 25% Source: Egg

Disturbingly, a third of adults who admitted to regularly borrowing money and other items said that they did so because they could get away with it.

A further third claimed they were confident their friends and family would always bail them out.

"Amazingly the amount of money that the nation owes each other is equivalent to the amount needed to plug the savings gap.

"It goes to show that a pound lent here and there really does add up," said Egg's UK managing director Jerry Toher.