Consumer rights campaigners are warning students to steer clear of credit card companies offering "gimmicks" such as free cameras and book tokens.

Expensive credit card debt could "push students over the edge", claimed the National Consumer Council in advice timed to coincide with Freshers' Week.

NCC chief executive Ed Mayo said credit cards were not the answer for cash-strapped undergraduates and his warning was backed by the National Union of Students.

Surveys have suggested that graduates can expect to university with student loan, overdraft and other debts totalling between £10,000 and £15,000.

NUS president Mandy Telford said, "Don't be sucked in by free promotional offers when you open a credit card account.

"Make sure you read the small print and fully understand the charges that come with credit cards. Many undergraduates are easy prey for credit card companies. They are financial novices plunged into a new and exciting independent phase in their lives, with very little to live on.

"The first lesson for students is that credit cards are not the answer. These free gifts are nothing but seductive offers to be ignored."

A spokeswoman for APACS, the credit card industry's representative body, said it was developing a box that would go on promotional leaflets highlighting the features of each one.

That would enable people to compare interest rates, charges and restrictions, as well as any special features such as free gifts, she said.

A spokesman for Barclaycard accused the NCC of insulting students' intelligence.

They were among the bank's most responsible customers and well able to compare what different companies offered.

"Don't buy a credit card on the back of a camera, please. That is not for a second what we are saying."

Barclaycard was the only provider to offer a card aimed specifically at students, and it came with a maximum £600 credit limit to prevent them going too far into the red, he added.

"We would never go in there and sell credit cards purely on the back of free cameras or other incentives but the fact is that people like and appreciate these incentives."