THE number of people being declared bankrupt in the region has risen by 24 per cent in the past year.

Nearly 1,800 people were declared bankrupt last year, a rise on the 1,440 in 2003, a survey by the Department for Constitutional Affairs found.

Nationally, the numbers reached their highest level since records began.

In separate figures, the Department of Trade and Industry said there were 35,898 bankruptcies across the country - up 28 per cent on the previous year.

Individual insolvencies rose 34 per cent to 13,013 in the fourth quarter against the same period a year ago, and eight per cent against the third quarter of last year.

Steve Treharne, head of personal insolvency at KPMG, said changes to bankruptcy laws that made it simpler to become bankrupt were making it a more attractive option for debtors.

''In particular, the early discharge from bankruptcy, potentially after only a few months, allows a debtor to quickly restart their financial life and reduces the stigma attached to bankruptcy," he said.

"This meets the Government's aim of rehabilitating debtors and encouraging them once more to contribute to the economy."

The number of companies going into insolvency dropped in the last three months of last year, the figures showed.

Insolvency practitioner Harvey Madden, of Taylor Rowlands, in Yarm, near Stockton, said: "The figures are evidence that the rescue culture is increasingly accepted in corporate UK. In time, the restructuring profession here will mirror that in the US, where there is no clear division between insolvency and restructuring.

"For now though, the UK is too hung up on the differences and as a profession, we need to make sure businesses understand how we can help them and organise a rescue."