Who are the humbugs at Christmas? And who spends the least?

But most are Christmas finance optimists. Just eight per cent think their borrowings will increase during the run-up to the big day, even though nearly half (47 per cent) complain that there is social pressure to buy expensive, impressive presents.

This pressure to spend is felt strongly in the North East (70 per cent) but less so in the South East and East (39 per cent).

We're generous, but they aren't

Some 60 per cent of North Easterners strongly begrudge spending on people they are not that close to, such as work colleagues and distant relatives, and spend an average total of £42.70 on them.

Though people in East Anglia spend even more on people they are not near to, at an average £42.80, only 28 per cent resent doing so.

The South East is nearly as calm about spending on near strangers (32 per cent), perhaps because they only spend an average of £22.90 on them. Overall, nearly half of us (46 per cent) say that we buy presents for people who never give anything back.

Generous Geordies and frugal Cockneys

The survey of more than 1,700 Britons shows that the average amount spent on presents last year was £397 - but there were strong regional variations. In the generous North East, more than half (53 per cent) spent more than £500 to average £542 each, while Londoners were the most frugal, averaging £354, with only 16 per cent spending more than £500.

Half of those who used home-collected credit during the year reported spending an average of £526, while people in households with children greatly outspent the child-free, at an average of £494 against £343.

There was also a strong divide between those in the professions and upper management, who averaged £336, and the unskilled and unemployed, who outspent them at £356, and skilled manual workers, at £405.

Jim Hodgkins, managing director of CreditExpert, says, "People should be realistic and know what they can afford. Using an online credit monitoring service such as CreditExpert.co.uk can show them exactly where they stand financially and they are alerted when there are major changes to their credit report, which acts as a guard against identity fraud."

To view your personal credit information that lenders are currently basing their credit decisions on, apply now for a free online credit report. Click here for a free 30-day trial and a free copy of your Experian credit report