LONDON, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The credit crunch is hitting household budgets and even children's pocket money in Britain as families face rising bills, two recent surveys showed.

    One in seven of the respondents in a survey said they had cashed in savings to pay utility or council tax bills, while a similar proportion had cut their children's allowance in the last six months, according to AXA, a group claiming to be a global leader in the financial protection business.

    A survey of 1,050 residents of Britain found that 14 percent of them had used their savings to pay for food, and 12 percent had dipped into their savings to settle their monthly mortgage or rental payments in the last three months.

    More than 70 percent of those surveyed expected to spend more on food, gas and electricity, and petrol in the next three months, with less spent on gifts and holidays, or home improvements and furnishings.

    About 17 percent of parents had cut the amount of cash they gave to their children in the last six months, according to another AXA poll that surveyed 2,050 British residents.

    It said teenagers were being hit the hardest this summer by parents' decisions to cut back spending.

    "The 'Bank of Mum and Dad' has so far been quiet on the issue of how it will deal with the effects of the credit crunch, but now it has come out and shown teenagers have been hit hard," AXA's Alison Green said Thursday.

    A number of lenders have trimmed their rates in recent days as swap rates - the key to mortgage rates - have eased slightly.

    The British Chambers of Commerce said in a report Tuesday that the country was "at serious risk" of a recession as the credit crunch and rising costs had dented the most important sectors of the economy.