CONSUMER body Which?

has made a call for greater "transparency, fairness and clarity" across the UK's £158 billion credit market.

The group called on City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to clean up an industry that it claims is littered with misleading and unclear information, irresponsible lending practices and a failure to explain risks.

In a new report, called Credit Britain 2, Which? proposals include capping default fees for all credit products and withholding licences to operate from firms that rely on customers defaulting.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "The regulator has so far rightly focused on the unscrupulous practices of payday lenders; however, we have found problems across the whole of the credit market.

"It's now more important than ever that all credit products are up to scratch, so that consumers can more easily manage their borrowing. The FCA must crack down on poor practices and help put consumers back in control of their credit, and lenders should improve their products and practices."

Which? also wants a ban on "zero per cent" claims on products that charge an upfront fee, and an end to retailers automatically signing up customers to an account they have not applied for.

Since the financial crisis UK households have paid down debt, cutting unsecured borrowing by £50bn since 2008 to £158bn. But there are 56 million individual credit cards in use in the UK, which is around 70 per cent of all credit cards in Europe. And Which? is warning that, as the economy recovers, consumer debt levels are rising again.

In April the FCA said it would launch a probe into how the country's £150bn credit card market works for poorer consumers.