BARROW’S debt crisis soared past a million pounds last year, according to a shocking new report.

Latest figures show 264 people in the Furness area asked for help after accumulating debts totalling £1.1 million, equivalent to £35,000 each.

A total of £919,000 was owed on loans, credit cards, store cards and higher purchases deals, found a report into the work of Barrow Citizens Advice.

The remaining £263,000 was people falling behind with vital household bills such as rent, council tax and tv licences.

Of the 264 people helped by the experts, they had nearly 1,000 different debt problems.

On Tuesday (January 15), councillors on Barrow Local Committee will meet to discuss a report containing the bombshell findings.

Ahead of that meeting, chairman Cllr Kevin Hamilton called the statistics “horrendous” and praised the financial lifeline offered by CAB.

Cllr Hamilton said: “Horrendous is the only way to describe this. I feel really sorry for the likes of the unemployed and single parents, because when I was growing up we got given hand-me-downs. That doesn’t exist anymore and the kids of today don’t understand it.

“They want to be wearing the latest brands and have the latest Smart Phone because if they don’t, they’ll get mocked.”

Barrow’s true debt mountain is believed to be far higher than £1.1 million because the figures only relate to a specific programme run by CAB and funded by the county council to provide help to the hard-up in Barrow. Many in debt never seek help and are therefore not included in the latest figures.

Cllr Hamilton believes the CAB service should be funded nationally rather than coming out of council budgets. “We and many other people would be lost without them,” he said.

The statistics show that single parents are most likely to get into debt – representing 28 per cent of the total who asked for help.

Two parent families accounted for 18 per cent. Those aged 25-34 were four times more likely to get into debt than the over 65s and more likely to fall behind with payments.

The report shows that people living in Ormsgill, Hindpool and Barrow town centre were the top three areas of people seeking help.

But people in Barrow Island, Dalton and Askam also came forward.

The report said: “This data shows that Barrow Citizens Advice is meeting the needs of those who are most likely to be over-indebted and that we consistently

help more people from our most disadvantaged wards.”

The top five problems were people asking for help with debt relief orders, equivalent to a “mini bankruptcy”. Council tax arrears accounted for the second biggest problem followed by consumer debt and falling behind with fuel bills.