Credit and debit card spending looks set to hit a record this Christmas, with consumers expected to put £20 billion on their plastic in December.

The Credit Card Research Group (CCRG) estimates people will spend £9.6 billion on credit cards and £10.8 billion on debit cards next month, the equivalent of about £7,600 every second.

The group said some commentators were expecting the strong sales seen in the run-up to Christmas 2001 to be a "last hurrah" as the UK economy came under pressure.

But while the tourism and service sectors have suffered, the High Street has continued to benefit from robust consumer confidence during the past 12 months.

It added that retailers looked set to be the big winners again this Christmas, with High Street card spending expected to grow by 14.2 per cent year-on-year, compared with just 2.1 per cent growth in the service sector.

CCRG director Steve Round said: "Despite some uncertainty about the prospects for the UK economy, it seems clear consumers are determined to enjoy themselves this Christmas.

"The combination of consumer resilience and plastic cards is hard to beat and should ensure another bumper year for retailers.

"Ever-growing levels of personal debt could signal future difficulties for the economy but we believe the UK consumer is largely behaving rationally, taking advantage of the competition in the credit card market to serve the very best deals."

In October, High Street spending continued to increase, rising almost 21 per cent compared with October 2001. During the month, consumers spent £4.8 billion on credit cards and £5.66 billion on debit cards.