MORE people in a Teesside town face losing their homes due to debt than those anywhere else in the North-East, according to a report.

Middlesbrough Citizens Advice Bureau's (CAB) figures show that 412 local people ended up in court for mortgage possession actions from March to June this year - more than double the average for the region.

In the whole of the North-East and Yorkshire combined, only Bradford was slightly worse.

Debt has become the most common reason for people in Middlesbrough asking advice. The CAB dealt with 3,317 new debt clients during the last financial year, and 30 per cent of inquiries related to it.

Linda Smith, a money advisor for the service, said the statistics were worrying. "Each year, we think we are saturated but the number gets higher and higher," she said.

Ms Smith said the easy availability of credit was a major cause of the problem. "Credit is becoming increasingly easy to get, and you are offered store cards everywhere you go," she said.

"We have high unemployment and a lot of low wage employment, and people see it as an easy option."

Ms Smith said people often go to companies that consolidate debts for help, but end up worse off.

"It is extremely concerning that a lot of television adverts are trying to get people to consolidate their debts, but they can end up losing their house," she said.

In most cases, debtors get a County Court judgement against them and are credit blacklisted for six years.

Ms Smith said how ever much people owe, debt caused considerable stress.

"The debt can be quite small, but it has the same impact when you can't pay," she said. "It causes an immense amount of stress."

She urged people not to feel ashamed about asking for help, especially if they were being harassed.

"We get quite a few cases of harassment, even from reputable companies," she said. "If people think they are in difficulties, they should get help as soon as possible."

For more information, ring Middlesbrough CAB on (01642) 864455