Worried clients of East Staffordshire Citizens Advice Bureau are in more than £9m worth of debt.
A lot of the blame for these shocking financial problems is being laid at the door of those companies whose advertisements encourage people to borrow even further as a solution to their debt problems.
Worse still - as the bureau reveals this record debt figure in this year's annual report -chief executive Dawn Trigg says: "We are already looking to exceed that figure this year."
Miss Trigg told the Trader that the figures are "extremely high".
She said that the advertisements encourage people to take out loans without thinking about the affordability of them.
And Suman Antcliffe, the bureau's advice services manager, said: "The most bizarre notion mooted by lenders is that borrowing is a solution to debt problems. No doubt this has led to the record debt figures we have had for 2006/7."
Mrs Antcliffe said lenders are taking advantage of the fact that many clients lack the financial literacy to make "informed decisions" over borrowing.
Many of them are also dramatically underestimating the extent of their debts by "several thousand pounds".
She said: "The majority of clients have never done an income and outgoings statement for themselves. Often it comes as a shock when they find they cannot actually afford a house they have bought. Unfortunately, lenders continue to take advantage of this situation."
Her words come as the bureau reveals in its annual report that debt is still the main inquiry area, matching what Miss Trigg said was a "national trend of a nation in debt".
They follow a front page story in the Burton Trader last month in which the bureau warned local homeowners to resist the lure of companies who offer to buy their homes quickly for cash, then let them stay in it as a tenant.
Some local people who snapped up what appears initially to be an "instant" solution to their financial problems have lived to regret it and even found themselves homeless as a result. In that report, the bureau called upon the Government to look into what it said is a " completely unregulated sector". ll In the latest Quality of Advice audit ESCAB was placed in the top 16 per cent of bureaux in the country. During the year the bureau has also recruited 33 new volunteers --but is still looking to recruit more.
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