Hundreds in Shropshire struggling with debt

In the first six months of 2013, a total of 507 people in the Shrewsbury and Telford areas have contacted the StepChange Debt Charity helpline about growing debt problems.

Up to 225 people from the Shrewsbury area have reached breaking point, according to the charity, by racking up debts worth £13,892 on average.

And the situation is even worse in Telford & Wrekin with 282 residents asking for support between January and June after owing on average of £14,678 – higher than the UK national average of £14,092.

The survey suggests county households are stru-ggling with a range of problems including credit cards, personal loans, payday loans and other debts.

Shrewsbury residents who contacted the charity's helpline are on average falling £56 short every month on what they need to cover their essential costs and those in Telford had just £15 left each month.

Charity bosses today warned that an increasing number of households in Shropshire had to deal with "unmanageable" debt, often caused by waiting too long to seek help.

Frances Walker, head of media and public affairs at StepChange, said: "A combination of stagnating in-comes and spiralling living costs has tipped many households over the edge into unmanageable debt.

"Too often those in financial difficulty wait almost a year before seeking advice and in that time their position has deteriorated."

It comes after the Ludlow Under Pressure report was published by church leaders in south Shropshire last year claiming more families in the area were struggling to make ends meet.

Foodbanks have been set up across the county.

In 2012 the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, warned that a "large number" of people in the area were at risk of falling into a serious debt problem.

The Office for National Statistics said recently the average annual wage increase for the whole of the last decade was 1.3 per cent, the lowest figure since records began in 1948.