COMPLAINTS by people who have fallen foul of payday loan firms have shot up, with poor service and aggressive debt collection at their core, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) revealed yesterday.

In the last two years the complaints lodged with the ombudsman by disgruntled users of companies such as Wonga and QuickQuid have soared from 296 to almost 800. 

Shadow minister for competition and consumer affairs Stella Creasy — who has campaigned relentlessly against loan sharks — labelled the data as a “confirmation of our status as a nation of silent sufferers.”