The number calling up with problems nearly doubled to 20,000 last year with some borrowers holding 80 payday loans

National Debtline took more than 20,000 calls for help with payday loans in 2012 - nearly double the number it received a year before. Some callers, it has disclosed, admitted taking as many as 80 different loans. Money Advice Trust, a charity which runs the debt phone line, said the total number of payday calls last year also represented a 4,200 per cent increase on 2007. Payday loan companies, such as QuickQuid, Wonga and Payday UK, have drawn heavy criticism for charging annual interest rates of up to 4,000 per cent a year. The firms have been accused of enabling vulnerable people - those who can't borrow elsewhere due their weak finances - further into debt. The industry says the lenders are providing a useful service to consumers sidelined by banks and building societies. Joanna Elson, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust, called for the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to act....Read more here