Many British consumers are still concerned about their debts, despite improvements in the economy in recent months, a survey has found.

A British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen survey found that 19% of people rank debt as one of their two biggest concerns.

Only worries about the economy ranked more highly, with 39% of respondents to the survey regarding this as one of their major concerns.

The survey also found that 71% felt their job prospects for the next year will be either ‘bad’ or ‘not so good’. More than half said the same about their finances.

Justin Sargent, Group Managing Director of Nielsen Consumer, UK & Ireland, said: “Our survey tells us that consumers are starting to feel more worried about jobs and money and debt and this is a concerning turn of events.

“Many economists have talked about a ‘double dip’ recession and the results of this survey would suggest we are at a crucial point in the consumer’s mind. Hopefully sentiment will stabilise and this will turn out to be a minor fluctuation on our road to recovery.”