Three Shropshire calls a day to debt charity over money worries
A debt charity has received more than 2,500 calls from people in Shropshire with money worries over the past two years.
The 2,540 calls to National Debtline between January 2013 and December 2014 work out at around three calls a day or nearly 100 a month.
The free counselling service is run by charity the Money Advice Trust.
In addition, the charity's Business Debtline service, which advises the self-employed and other small business owners, received 168 calls from businesses in Shropshire last year.
National Debtline callers, Jan 2013-Dec 2014:
Shrewsbury and Atcham - 627
North Shropshire - 577
Telford - 522
Ludlow - 418
The Wrekin - 396
Callers to Business Debtline in 2014:
Shrewsbury and Atcham - 42
North Shropshire - 42
Ludlow - 33
Telford - 30
The Wrekin - 21
Where to find help:
National Debtline offers free advice via 0808 808 4000 or www.nationaldebtline.or
Its sister service Business Debtline can be contacted via 0800 197 6026 or www.businessdebtline.org
It has called on parliamentary candidates who are elected as MPs in next month's general election to make tackling debt a priority.
The highest number of calls – 627 – came from the Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency, while there were 577 calls made from north Shropshire and 522 from Telford.
There were 418 calls made in the Ludlow constituency, with 396 coming from the Wrekin.
Joanna Elson OBE, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs National Debtline and Business Debtline, said: "With research showing that only 17 per cent of people with unmanageable debt in the UK seek advice, the need for debt help in Shropshire is likely to be far higher than these figures suggest.
"The Money Advice Trust says that higher awareness of free debt advice in and around Shropshire could mean the difference between financial recovery and financial disaster for thousands of people.
"MPs are often contacted by constituents about unmanageable debt, including problems with credit cards, personal loans, mortgage debts, payday loans, council tax arrears, rent arrears bailiffs and county court judgments.
"Whoever is elected as Member of Parliament in Shropshire on May 7 needs to put promoting free debt advice in the area near the top of their to-do list after the General Election."
