Unsecured debts being repaid at record levels.

(From The Journal)

Byline: Iain Laing

CONSUMERS repaid a record level of unsecured debt during October as they continued to focus on improving their finances in the face of the recession.

People reduced their outstanding credit card, loan and overdraft debt by pounds 579m during the month, the biggest contraction in unsecured lending since Bank of England records began in their current format in 1993.

It was also only the sixth time on record that repayments for consumer credit have outstripped new borrowing.

But on the mortgage side, the number of loans approved for house purchase increased for the 11th consecutive month, rising to …