BANKS and building societies have come under fire from the chairman of Wyre Forest CAB for lending money to vulnerable people who struggle to make the repayments.

John Gordon pointed the finger at the financial institutions in the district CAB's annual report, which said typical levels of clients' debts were running at between £500 and £44,000.

Increased debt levels have led to more of the district CAB's clients being assisted with bankruptcy arrangements - as a last resort - by the group.

"In a here today, pay tomorrow society, even with the support of the welfare state, the number of people facing severe problems is increasing," said Mr Gordon in his forward to the report, which was presented to CAB members last night.

"Credit has never been so easy to obtain," he added, "It follows, then, that so does debt and it is debt counselling that is the bulk of our advisors' workloads.

"Financial institutions must bear a great responsibility for this problem as they, in many cases, offer loans to vulnerable and unsuitable people who fall for the easy sell and are unaware of the ensuing consequences."

He went on: "Locally, we continue to provide evidence of irresponsible lending to the National Citizens Advice Social Policy Unit to enable them to compile reports and lobby Government and financial institutions."

The report highlighted the progress of a contract with the Legal Services Commission to provide advice to CAB clients in managing their money.

Introduced in June last year, up until April, 172 clients had been helped, most of whom had eight or nine creditors.

Their total debts amounted to more than £2,038,870. Seventeen of the debtors had made successful applications for bankruptcy.

"This is not a decision taken lightly by us," said the report. "Other options are tried first but, if the health and family circumstances are compromised, bankruptcy may become the only option."

The report posed the question whether loans were being made responsibly, adding: "Many of our clients report being offered additional loans to 'help' them, despite already struggling to pay.

"Likewise, there are no controls over how many credit cards an individual may have or the credit levels they are given."