Consumers will remain vulnerable to fast-finance firms until a crackdown on credit charges in 2014

Payday lenders and high-street fast-finance firms are expected to campaign hard for more customers over the next 12 months before a crackdown on unscrupulous lending, an MP said last night. The warning came as new figures revealed that around 1.5 million people took short-term loans – some at more than 1,000 per cent interest – to get through a recession-blighted Christmas....More on this story: 1.5 million took out loans to fund Christmas