mortgage lending soared to a record high last month, boosted by renewed demand from house buyers.

The Bank of England said total mortgage lending was £21.88bn - up from £20.49bn in May.

Net lending, which strips out redemptions and repayments, also reached a new record of £7.81bn, suggesting the surge in lending was driven by people buying houses, rather than remortgaging to get a better deal.

Approvals for home loans were also strong, reaching a new high of £24.58bn, with 108,000 mortgages approved, up from 91,000 the previous month.

The figures come as Nationwide Building Society reported that house prices rose by a steady one per cent during this month.

Unsecured lending was also strong, with consumers borrowing a total of £17.4bn on credit cards, loans, hire purchase agreements and overdrafts during the month - the highest figure yet.

Once repayments were taken into account, unsecured debt rose £2.16bn, compared with a jump of £1.87bn in May.

Within this, total credit card lending increased by £861bn.

Britons now collectively owe £50.19bn on their credit cards and £164.37bn on all unsecured debt, as well as £713.78bn in mortgages.

Liberal Democrat trade spokesman Vince Cable warned that the economy was heading for an "almighty crash".

He said: "Debt is soaring far above income. People are going to have to pay this back at some stage.

"With debt levels so high, a slight downturn in the economy could lead to negative equity, repossessions and record levels of bankruptcy.

"Aggressive lenders must be reined and the public need to be aware of the dangers of running on empty," he said.