CONSUMER debt is soaring locally - with young people and students the worst hit.

Local Citizens Advice Bureaux are reporting people coming into their offices weeping, with handfuls of unopened bills.

According to the CAB organis-ation - Britain's biggest provider of debt advice - the number of consumer debt problems in the south west rose by 10 per cent over the last year. They have risen by 74 per cent over the last seven years.

Martin Broad, manager of Bournemouth CAB, said: "The figures that most starkly illustrate this are these: A year ago you'd have to wait two weeks to see one of our full-time debt counsellors. Now the wait for an appointment is four to five weeks."

He says the vast majority of new cases are younger people who have got into trouble with their spending, and students are especially hard hit, because many of them are encouraged to borrow money to fund their education.

"In the 21st century we are living in a consumer age. There is much more pressure on people now to have nice things and spend money on luxuries and clothes. There's nothing wrong with this, but many people are not very good at handling their money and this can be where the trouble starts," he added.

He says the CAB has been aware of the problem for a long time but: "I think the trouble has been is that people just don't believe how bad it's got."

He spoke of clients who had suffered mental health problems from the pressure of owing money they felt they could not pay back, and of others who were suffering physically, because they could not afford to heat their homes or eat properly.

However, he says people in debt crisis don't need to suffer in silence. And they don't need to fear what will happen when they try to seek help.

"We are a friendly service and we won't judge you, or call you an idiot for getting into difficulties," says Mr Broad. "What we will try and do is help you deal with what's happening."

Bournemouth Citizens Advice Bureau is on 0870 7510927.

First published: October 23