Debt 'On the Rise in Home Counties'

Debt worries are increasingly common among professionals living in some of the most affluent places in the UK, the BBC reports.

In an interview with the broadcaster, a representative for debt advice charity Transact said that the credit crunch was leaving many people struggling to pay the bills. The charity has found the most dramatic rise of people seeking their help in traditionally middle-class areas, with Transact branches in Haywards Heath in Sussex and Congleton in Cheshire both reporting 100 per cent rises.

Despite a marked increase in government funding, which has seen an extra £55 million paying for an extra 500 advisors over the past three years, Transact co-ordinator Jamie Elliott said that people were currently being turned away from some of the charity's 1,200 advice centres due to the demand.

Commenting on the trend towards middle-class debt fears, Mr Elliott added: "In the past it was almost uniquely people on benefits, people in social housing who went to debt advice agencies [seeking advice]. Since the credit crunch started, they are seeing a big increase in professional people and homeowners coming to seek help, who have just been pushed over the edge and now can't cope with their outgoings.

"These services now with the credit crunch are being overwhelmed by a whole new breed of debtor: middle-class people."