A new survey has shown that more people are in debt due to shopping than gambling and that over a half of Brits feel happier after a round of retail therapy.

Carried out by debt management company Kensington Financial Management Consultants (KFMC), the survey revealed that 24.8 per cent of British people have admitted to being in debt due to shopping, with only 0.6 per cent owing money due to gambling.

It was also revealed that 54 per cent of people feel happier after shopping, but 38 per cent feel guilty after a big spending spree and 67 per cent have bought items they have never used, despite going into debt in order to purchase them.

Stuart Parkin from KFMC said: The increase in the number of shoporexics is extremely worrying. Shopping can be fun, frivolous and great escapism, but serious addiction - and escalating debt - is a very different story.

A quarter of people have also used credit cards to buy non-essential items.

Confessions of a Shopaholic, a film about a young woman who faces mounting debts after using credit cards to fund her shopping habit, is released this week.