Recession `causing increase in debt problems`

The recession is resulting in a rise in the number of people facing debt problems, an expert has said.

Karen Sharpe, the manager of a Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) in Plymouth, said that the amounts that clients owe to creditors has risen by more than 50 per cent since this time last year, Plymouth publication the Herald reports.

She commented: "We are seeing a significant rise in the number of people facing serious debts.

"Many people in the area are dealing with salary cuts and redundancies as a result of the economic downturn and are therefore struggling with their repayments."

According to the Herald, the Plymouth CAB has seen a 12.5 per cent increase in cases involving bankruptcy compared with this time a year ago.

Recently, the Times cited Ministry of Justice statistics which suggested that the number of UK consumers who applied to become insolvent during the last quarter of 2008 was up by 32 per cent compared with the last three months of 2007.