The number of Oxford residents seeking help because they feel overburdened by crippling debt has more than doubled in the past five years.

Between April 2004 and March 2005 the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) dealt with almost 15,000 debt cases, and the annual value of client debt has rocketed from £2.5m in 2000 to £6m this year -- a 140 per cent increase.

The CAB reduced clients' personal debts by approximately £350,000 this year by challenging debts, obtaining creditors' agreements to write off debts and by increasing their income.

Debt specialist Wendy Scarrott said people were getting into debt problems because credit was becoming much more readily obtainable.

She said: "There are, at last, signs that debt is an issue that needs to be taken seriously. Debt problems generally arise due to a change in personal circumstances, but clients over-extending themselves buying what they cannot afford and interest rate increases also play their part in debt creation.

"The consequences of debt can be huge. It can lead to repossession of the home, bailiff action, court action and demand letters.

"This can be very stressful and upsetting, and lead to a downward spiral of increasing debt that causes unemployment, family breakdowns and homelessness."

More than 40 per cent of the cases dealt with by the Citizens Advice Bureau in St Aldate's in the last three months have been debt-related, compared to just over a third in the last financial year, and the CAB says clients with debts of more than £100,000 are becoming more common.

David Lansley, advice services manager for the Oxford CAB, said: "Some people come in with big carrier bags of unopened post. They are in denial about it and we need to know what they owe and who they owe it to.

"We also need to get an idea of what is coming in and their out- goings so we can come up with a strategy to deal with the problem."

The number of people using the Oxford CAB, an independent charity, for advice on money, benefits, employment issues and immigration has more than doubled -- from 9,700 in 1997-8 to 19,226 in 2004-5.

The Oxford CAB annual public meeting will be at the Old Library, Oxford Town Hall, on Tuesday, October 4. Anyone over 18 who lives in the Oxford City Council area may attend.