Around 5% of Britons have been turned down at least one for a mortgage or personal loan in the past 18 months, a survey has revealed.

One in 20 of the 1000 people questioned, has had a credit application turned down during since the beginning of last year.

GE Money said the figures were a result of the current trend among money lenders to tighten their lending criteria in the face of the UK credit crunch. This is making it increasingly difficult for people, who would previously be classed as credit worthy, to get the credit they need.

The results found that of those who had been refused credit, 13% said they had to make at least four applications before they successfully secured credit.

A further 1% of people whose applications were rejected had to apply for a mortgage or personal loan eight times or more before they were finally accepted.

Almost a third of people who had a credit application turned down said they gave up applying after being rejected the first time, while 12% said that despite repeated application they still had not been accepted by any lender.

GE Money warned that those who had had credit applications turned down may be making their situation worse by continuing to make multiple credit applications.

The group said a high number of refused applications can be logged on a person's credit records and count against them, forcing them to turn to poor credit loans.

Head of mortgage marketing at GE Money Home Lending, Gerry Bell said: "Multiple failed applications can be time consuming and, of course, can be detrimental to a borrower.

He added: "With criteria changing regularly and the risk of decline increasing all the time, it is even more important that borrowers looking to obtain a mortgage use reputable mortgage professionals with broad experience, knowledge and systems at their disposal which will increase the chances of the borrower getting the deal they need."

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