Rising household bills are set to put greater pressure on consumers who have financial difficulties, says the government's annualreport on tackling over-indebtedness.

The study, which outlined government initiatives to tackle the problem, noted that calls to debt advice agencies rose significantly last year. It said National Debtline, a telephone helpline that provides free advice, took 65,535 calls during 2005 - an increase of 43 per cent on 2004.