Workers `spend Monday lunchtime arranging loans`

Many people looking for personal loans choose to do so on their Monday lunch break at work, new research suggests.

As the excesses of the weekend are digested, the most popular time for organising a loan online is between 13:00 and 14:00 BST, a study by Halifax has found.

The number of online loan applications falls after 18:00, which suggests many people use internet connections at work to organise a secured or unsecured personal loan. However, a growing number of people are taking 24-hour banking literally and are sorting out their finances after midnight.

Neil Chandler, head of Halifax unsecured personal loans, said: "Our results show that although weekday afternoons are the time most of us look to apply, an increasing number of people choose to make use of our 24-hour online service - often sorting out their finances into the small hours of the morning."

According to Credit Action, the average Brit owes £4,254 on credit card debt and unsecured personal loans.