PEOPLE desperate to get their hands on cash are urged not to turn to illegal or high interest money lenders this Christmas.

Research suggest six out of 10 people are worried about the cost of presents and festivities this year.

With money becoming tighter over the Christmas period, more and more people may have to turn to credit so they can afford to celebrate.

However there are warnings of the perils of resorting to risky means of finance.

Laura Bostock, financial inclusion manager at Riverside, one of the leading social housing and regeneration organisations in the UK, said: “More than half of social housing tenants included in our recent survey don’t use mainstream credit.

“This is because they do not have access to a bank account or have a bad credit rating. The pressures of spending at Christmas may lead many more towards expensive weekly payment stores, or worse still, illegal lenders.”

Riverside works closely with credit unions and St Helens Moneyline offers low interest instant loans, saving options and budgeting advice.

Dave Watts, MP for St Helens North, is backing a new e-petition to try to involve the Government in the high cost credit market so struggling families aren’t taken advantage of over the Christmas period by high interest, but legal, loan sharks.

Dave said: “With Christmas approaching, residents in St Helens are likely to come under increased financial pressure, and many will be considering taking out high-cost, short-term loans. I am determined they should be protected from exploitation from the high-cost credit sector.”

St Helens South MP Shaun Woodward said: “In St Helens and across the country, payday lenders and home credit providers are allowed to charge as much as they like for credit, often causing severe financial difficulties for their customers.”

The aim of the petition is to push the Government to take direct action and ensure people can use legal money lenders without the fear of exploitation by introducing caps on the cost of credit, much like in other areas of Europe and North America.

If the e-petition receives 100,000 signatures, it will go before the Backbench Business Committee to be considered for a debate in the House of Commons. The petition can be found at epetitions.direct.gov.uk/ petitions/20219.