Figures revealed yesterday by the Insolvency Service confirmed that the number of personal insolvencies in England and Wales have hit an all time high. The current level recorded has been the highest since the records began in 1960. The surge has been attributed to the rise in the take up of debt relief orders, which are a form of bankruptcy for the poorest of borrowers.

The data collected has confirmed that the number of individual insolvencies shot up by 6.2% to 35,242 in the July to September period for the current year, as compared to the previous quarter. Compared to the same period for the previous year, insolvencies were up by 28.2%.

The steady growth in the number insolvencies has led the economists, and the Deloitte Contentious Insolvency Group, to predict that by the end of the year, as many as 130,000 people would have succumbed to the weight of their debts.

All, however, is not bleak as the figures have also managed to reveal that the insolvency growth has slowed down when compared to earlier this year. The rise between March and June was recorded as 9.3% as compared to the previous quarter. Also, there was a 3% fall in the number of bankruptcies across England and Wales.