PLYMOUTH is being swamped by a tide of debt, sparked by the recession, says the city council.

In this financial year, residents with more than £73million-worth of problem debt have sought advice and counselling and the figure is expected to hit £100million by the end of the month.

This includes those who are having trouble paying their mortgages.

"The problem is people borrowing against their lifestyle, and then things change," said Darin Halifax, community cohesion co-ordinator at the city council.

"The most common problems are ill-health, marriage break-up and losing a job. Irresponsible borrowing from doorstep lenders isn't as rife in Plymouth as we thought it would be.

"You're likely to see debt figures coming down now because mainstream lenders aren't making such irresponsible loans," he said.

Mr Halifax and Pete Aley, the assistant director for safer communities, were giving evidence to the Customers and Communities overview and scrutiny panel, which is reviewing the way the council helps people avoid money problems.

Plymouth people were reckoned to owe about £6.3billion in total, including their mortgages, councillors on the panel were told. Of that, £1billion was owed in unsecured debt.

Based on approximately 150,000 people of adult age in Plymouth, the £6.3billion figure works out at an estimated £42,000 of total debt per person, including their mortgage. Unsecured debt works out at an estimated £6,600 per person.

The figures are for the last full financial year, 2008-09.

One household in every 11, which amounts to 18,000 people, has debts which bring the risk of poverty because of the size of their repayments.

About 12,000 Plymouth households are living in fuel poverty, which means they are spending more than 10 per cent of their net income on staying warm.

Since 2003 rising prices have forced up the fuel poverty figure, in spite of efforts to improve energy efficiency.

Mr Aley said the Plymouth Citizens' Advice Bureau had reported a 34 per cent rise in inquiries from people with debt and benefits problems in the past 12 months. The CAB, which is funded by the council, says reports of difficulties in paying off mortgages or other secured loans have shot up by 35 per cent.

More than 13,300 children and 10,200 pensioners are thought to be directly affected by poverty in the city, and Plymouth also has higher than average numbers of lone parents and people on Incapacity Benefit.

Mr Halifax said: "Most of our need for benefits and debt advice is coming from the west of the city, but there are pockets in the east where people aren't accessing the benefits they should."

The council commissions the organisation Routeways to give advice and run campaigns to target groups who are missing out on their entitlements.

"We've had letters from people who have used Routeways saying, 'For the first time I've been able to buy my son a new school uniform'," Mr Halifax said.

Cllr Andy Fox, the panel chairman, said that because of the recession 'there are going to be people coming into the position of needing help who have absolutely no idea about where to go.'

The council is trying to boost support for credit unions, which were praised by members of the scrutiny panel. It has now given funding and support to the City of Plymouth Credit Union.

Mr Halifax said there were about 12,000 people in the city using doorstep lenders, and only 1,000 using credit unions.

Cllr Peter Berrow (Con, Southway) said: "It's a worry when you see the adverts on TV for doorstep lenders, charging 2,500 per cent APR."

Cllr Patricia Nicholson (Con, Peverell) said: "We haven't moved on over the generations. It's the same as it always has been."

Cllr Nicky Wildy (Lab, Devonport) said: "People are being bombarded from all directions, so it's always going to be an uphill battle."

Mr Aley said: "Often hard-earned wages go on high-interest credit repayments, which means less of those wages are recycled within the city.

"Many don't feel the full benefit of a return to work, as they are missing out on their entitlement to tax credits and welfare benefits.

"Can we stop people getting into debt, rather than curing the problem later?"

The council would aim to commission face-to-face debt and money advice and encourage more use of credit unions as an alternative to doorstep lending.

Advice agencies should be made more aware of issues such as fuel poverty, he said, and targeted advice would focus on removing barriers to work. The aim was to help people to avoid debt, as well as helping those who were already in debt.

Mrs Nicholson said older people did not like filling in forms and the help they got from the Citizens' Advice Bureau was invaluable. She said it might be possible to offer help and advice through libraries.