The number of people asking Exeter Citizens' Advice Bureau for help with debt problems has reached an all-time high.The Exeter CAB handled 11,000 debt inquiries in 2006/07, an increase on the previous year of four per cent.

These accounted for 46 per cent of all the issues brought to the CAB.

The trend is showing no signs of slowing down, as figures for the current financial year so far show that debt enquiries make up 52 per cent of the matters brought to Exeter's CAB. There are about 20-25 debt issues raised every working day.



Exeter's CAB is dealing with around £6m of debt with its clients.

Steve Barriball, director of Exeter CAB, said: "The majority have had a serious incident in their life, such as illness, bereavement or redundancy, which has affected the assumptions on which their finances were planned."

He said the increase in interest rates this year is a concern looking forward, as changes take time to work their way through. He therefore expects the number of debt enquiries to continue to rise over the next couple of years.

The second biggest issue at the Exeter branch, accounting for 27 per cent of inquiries in 2006/07, is welfare benefits.

Nationally, the number of inquiries to CABs about debt increased by 20 per cent in the last year to bring the total for 2006/07 to 1.7m.

CAB advisers around the country deal with more than 6,600 debt problems every working day.

The number of debt problems brought to CAB has doubled in the last 10 years.

Credit card debt and problems with unsecured loans accounted for 40 per cent of the CAB caseload. One in four of all debt inquiries concerned credit and store cards.

Consumer credit debt problems of all kinds increased by 14 per cent, while problems with overdrafts and unsecured personal loans increased by more than 18 per cent. Inquiries about bankruptcy jumped by 50 per cent.

Citizens' Advice chief executive David Harker said: "These figures are worrying evidence that while many have enjoyed the benefits of the credit boom, a large and growing number of people continues to pay the price, becoming overwhelmed by serious debt that can have a devastating impact on their lives."

Mr Harker said lenders need to do more to check borrowers are in a position to keep up repayments when they take out credit.

"We also want to see creditors being more willing to negotiate with people in debt, and to work with us in helping people manage their debt problems effectively," he added.

"People also need help to build their understanding, skills and confidence in dealing with money matters and particularly in using credit sensibly," he said.

It also appears that many hundreds of thousands of people are increasingly struggling to meet their day-to-day living expenses.

Gas and electricity debt problems shot up by 33 per cent, while council tax debt enquiries went up 25 per cent and telephone debt problems by 19 per cent. Problems with mortgages and secured loans were up 11 per cent.

The national figures were published yesterday.

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