Payday loan
Ian Jordan, 60, committed suicide over his £20,000 debts to more than a dozen payday loan firms Reuters

A British grandfather killed himself after racking up £20,000 in debts to payday loan firms, an inquest has heard.

Ian Jordan, 60, from Southampton, was being charged more than 5,000% in interest by one of the lenders. In total he owed money to more than a dozen of the companies.

"He was borrowing money to pay off debts [which was] to pay off debts", his daughter Samantha Carr told the Southern Daily Echo.

Jordan's relatives are now calling for stricter controls on lenders.

"It just spiralled out of control", said Carr. "Why do they still lend money to people when you have got debt? My main concern is to make sure that this doesn't happen to anybody else."

Coroner Grahame Short recorded a verdict of suicide at the inquest which heard that Jordan died after taking an overdose of painkillers.

Plans for a cap on the amount that payday lenders can charge their customers was announced last week by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which regulates the City of London.

Payday loan rates should be capped at 0.8% a day and no one should have to pay back more than twice what they borrowed, the FCA has proposed.