Residents across Perthshire and Dundee are becoming embroiled in an ever-greater cash crisis, a leading debt charity has warned.
Christians Against Poverty (CAP) will see an unprecedented number of people over the next eight weeks, all of them struggling with crippling financial woes.
Appointments at its debt centres in Highland Perthshire, Perth and Dundee are already fully booked until the end of March.
In the first working week of 2015, CAP received 479 calls for debt help from some of Tayside’s most vulnerable people.
The charity said the figures illustrate that the post-Christmas rush to get finances in order has begun in earnest.
January 19 is traditionally dubbed “Blue Monday” but Highland Perthshire centre manager Angela Hanvey said the charity receives most calls for debt help on the second Monday in February.
“Every week, the busiest day for debt help calls is a Monday, when people have had time over the weekend to resolve to seek help,” Angela said.
“We see a rise in calls during January and February because most people can’t face tackling their finances before Christmas. When these two elements come together, we see our busiest time.
“As our reach extends to more areas, with more debt coaches, we are set to see more people booked in than ever before.”
In December, The Courier reported that the crushing debt faced by residents in Tayside had left some considering suicide.
Recent research from CAP has shown that people often struggle for years with personal debt following income changes caused by events such as losing a job or a relationship breakdown.
“Four in 10 people believe that no one can help them with their debts, according to some research we’ve done,” Angela added.
“It can feel like you’ve hit a brick wall but we see many ‘impossible’ situations where people get their debts cleared. There are people to help and it can get sorted, however complicated or dire it seems.”