According to figures from the Ministry of Justice, the number of repossession claims issued in Devon and Cornwall were up by +41% this spring compared with the same period last year.

But experts in the south-west believe that the situation is worse than the figures suggest. One repossession court in Penzance, west Cornwall, raced through 50 cases in one morning and in Barnstaple, north Devon, the last repossession court heard 26 cases, which is more than double the number before the credit crunch.

Nationally, repossessions were up by +17% in the second quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2007.