MORE than 66,000 people have been helped by a government project to provide consumers with face-to-face debt advice, a report has said.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform said its £47.5 million debt advice project, which was allocated funding in April last year, had gone from "strength to strength" during the past year.

It said more than 500 advisers had been recruited and trained and more than 66,000 people had been helped by the project.

At the same time it said its National Debtline telephone service was helping around 4,500 people each month and Debt Test, an online self-assessment tool, had received 800,000 visits since January last year.

The projects are part of a range of initiatives by the government to help people who are struggling with debt.

Other moves include the Department for Work and Pension's £42 million Growth Fund to increase the access people have to affordable credit, mainly through credit unions.

The government said by October this year more than 46,000 loans worth over £20 million had been made.

The initiative has been accompanied by a nationwide crackdown on loan sharks and illegal lending, with specialist teams across Briton allocated £3 million to hunt for unscrupulous lenders.

Other measures to help people get their finances in order include the Financial Services Authority's National Strategy for Financial Capability, which has given financial advice to 1.4 million people.

The "Now let's talk money" campaign has also been working to raise awareness among people who are financially excluded about free face-to-face financial advice, the availability of more affordable credit and the benefits of opening a bank account.

Going forward, the cross-government over-indebtedness annual report said the government would continue to offer free debt advice, while it was also revising the secondary school curriculum to increase personal finance education.

At the same time the implementation of the Consumer Credit Act 2006 will put into place new laws to improve responsible lending and borrowing.

The government will also publish an action plan in the spring on ways to improve consumers' financial capability.

The Finance & Leasing Association's director general Stephen Sklaroff said: "We strongly support the government's efforts to help people who face debt related problems.

"The industry directly supports a number of debt charities. It is equally important to remember the enormous economic contribution made by responsible lending. This needs to be matched by responsible borrowing and so we also support efforts to improve financial capability."