Soaring debt and the rise in credit card borrowing significantally threaten Britain's future financial stability, the Bank of England warns today.

"The continuing rapid build-up of debt by many borrowers may be building up vulnerabilities for the long term," says its bi-annual Financial Stability Review.

Borrowing is growing at 15 per cent a year and the average household borrows 140 per cent more than its combined income, the Bank claims.

"This is above the levels in the United States and most large European countries. Lenders and borrowers may underestimate these vulnerabilities because at the moment the near-term risks seem low."

James Plaskitt, a Labour member of the Treasury select committee, said that the Bank's concerns about credit card debt were justified.

"Credit card companies have been very aggressively pushing people to increase their credit card borrowing. I would like to see this legislation passed as soon possible.

"The current rules were introduced in the 1970s when only one credit card was in use. Now there are more than 600 of them."

The Treasury said it was taking "very seriously" the problem of debt among people on low incomes.

A spokesman added that for the majority, debt servicing payments were considerably lower than in the early to mid-1990s.