The UK government borrowed £35.9bn in August as tackling the economic fallout of pandemic took its toll on the public finances, official figures show.
The figure - the difference between spending and tax income - was £30.5bn more than it borrowed in August last year.
The increase meant that the borrowing figure hit its highest amount for August since records began in 1993.
Borrowing between April and August totalled £173.7bn - also a record.
UK debt passed £2tn for the first time in history in July as the government spent billions on introducing measures designed to protect the economy against the fallout caused by the coronavirus crisis.
In August, debt hit £2.024tn, £249.5bn more than the same time in 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics.