Living in Brighton and Hove is so expensive it is impossible for more than 13,500 adults to save money, a new study has claimed.

The rise in day-to-day costs, including tax and energy bills, has been blamed for making people unwilling or unable to set up savings accounts.

People's concerns about the security of their money follow a string of high profile bank collapses in the UK and US have been identified as factors in the study by the Post Office.

It said around 17 per cent of the city's population of 181,000 adults did not save and in its representative study almost half of those said it was because they could not afford to.

The study indicated around 13,600 people were in the position of being unable to set any money aside.

Other experts warned the real number of people unable to save could be even higher than the study showed.

Sarah Nancollas, director of insolvancy experts Nancollas Greer, said: "I'm surprised the figure is that low. There is a real issue in this generation that people do not save. People seem more inclined to borrow and then try to pay back than to save and then spend."

The Post Office said the reluctance of people to start saving was coupled with a rise in what it called "bouncers", people who would put money into a savings account on pay-day but be forced to withdraw it again by the end of the month.

The study showed that in the past 12 months this had been done regularly by 48 per cent of people in the Brighton area who paid into their accounts.

Eighteen per cent of those surveyed admitted to bouncing every month.

Richard Norman, director of savings at the Post Office, said: "Our research shows that thousands of people in the Brighton area are missing out on earning interest on their savings and have to live without the security of having a 'savings safety net' if they ever found themselves in financial trouble.

"In times of economic uncertainty, it's more important than ever to try to put money away. Our advice is try to keep saving regularly, even if it's just a small amount, and consider saving less frequently such as every other month."

The survey showed ten per cent of people nationally were wary of savings accounts and 11 per cent were unsure of and products linked to the stock market.

Almost half, 47 per cent, said their savings behaviour had not changed and 57 per cent said they felt instant access accounts were the best home for their cash.

The Post Office figures were based on an online poll of 2,003 British adults March 7 and 11 and weighted to nationally representative data.



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