Latest figures released have revealed that many household across Scotland seem to be sitting on a "credit time-bomb", with over 128,000 Scots now tuning to credit cards to pay for their monthly mortgage or rent.

A poll conducted by YouGov, for the homeless charity Shelter, has discovered that 8% of all survey participants had used credit cards to keep up with mortgage payments or rent over the past 12 months, which amounts to a total of 128,000 households.

"It is a shocking discovery that [so many] households in Scotland are in such desperate circumstances they need to borrow money on credit cards to pay for basic housing costs. If people are already struggling to the extent that they fear losing their home, increasing credit card debt cannot be the answer. The sooner they seek help, the more options are available", said Graeme Brown, Director of Shelter Scotland.

What is even more surprising is that the trend of using plastic as a means to take care of monthly payments is not just restricted to well-off homes, with as many as 4% of middle and upper-class households "forced into debt by mortgage payments".

The charity has urged people who are struggling to keep up with their mortgage payments to seek advice, instead of falling into more debt.