LONDON (AP) — As joblessness spreads in Britain the government has a new problem to tackle — soaring individual credit card debt, which is more than eight times higher in Britain than in France, Spain, Germany and Italy.

Free-spending Britons have the highest credit card debt of 14 European countries studied by the Datamonitor research group, prompting the government to meet with credit card companies yesterday to look for ways to ease the pain for borrowers falling behind in payments.

The goal is to avoid a rash of personal bankruptcies and credit problems that could make economic recovery more difficult.

The government is urging credit card companies to lower interest rates — which have actually gone up over the past six months despite cuts in the Bank of England base rate — and to set more generous terms for people who miss payments.

British business secretary Peter Mandelson, angered by steep rises in credit card interest rates, summoned bosses of credit card companies to a meeting to ask them to change some of their practices.

"Many people feel stitched up by credit card lenders and there are definitely pockets of bad behaviour," Mandelson said in an interview with the GMTV breakfast show ahead of the summit. "I want them to accept voluntarily a code of good behaviour."

Mandelson called on credit card companies to allow troubled borrowers to delay making payments without incurring added fees.

Gareth Thomas, Britain's head of consumer affairs, who is chairing the credit card summit, said he hopes to come to an agreement with credit card companies.

"The government is deeply concerned that borrowers aren't getting a fair deal," Thomas told the Associated Press.

If credit card companies do not agree to change some of their practices, Thomas said he would not shy away from asking the Office of Fair Trading to investigate them with an eye toward imposing fines and revoking licences. But although the proposed code promises to help consumers keep up with payments through the economic downturn, it won't reduce Britons' level of indebtedness to credit card companies.