A PERSONAL debt crisis is sweeping Oxford it is claimed, with one charity reporting its clients are £8m in the red.

The city’s Citizen’s Advice Bureau has warned it expects the “epidemic” to deepen with fresh welfare cuts.

A mix of mortgage arrears, credit card and overdraft charges, plus other bills contributed to the £8m of debt presented to the charity by its clients in the year 2011/12. In 2010/11 the charity reported total client debt of £6.6m.

The number of clients taken on by the charity has also risen from 5,938 in 2010/11, to 6,835 in 2011/12.

Although the average debt increase from £1,111 to £1,170 each is marginal, the number of people reporting problems has risen by 15 per cent.

Figures have not been finalised for the year 2012/13 but the charity said its client number had already exceeded the previous year’s total. Oxford branch chief executive Gill Tishler warned that number could increase further this year due to government welfare reforms on benefit caps.

She said: “There is every sign that life is getting very much harder for many of the people who use our service, and with most of the welfare reform changes still to come we are anticipating a very busy year ahead.

“The main sources of debt in both years have been credit card and store charge debt, bank overdrafts and council tax arrears.

She added: “In line with national trends we are seeing an increase in priority debts – things like rent, heating and water rates.”

Christmas debt calls to the charity rose by 10 per cent in 2012, with 824 recorded issues from October to December, up from 751 over the same period in 2011.

Former Oxford and Cowley doorman Dorian Rodney, 50, racked up debts of £30,000 and considered suicide before turning his life around.

Mr Rodney, whose debt related to a series of loans and credit cards, was detained by police under the Mental Health Act for his own safety and spent four weeks at the Littlemore Hospital.

The Abingdon resident, a father-of-three, said: “Help is out there if you are willing to talk to people. I found that opening up about your problems is the best way and planning for the future can help you solve anything.

“You can lose track of money and before you know it things really start going wrong and it is so easy to lose control.

Mr Rodney said: “I started drawing up a 10-step plan to help people like me. It seems strange but if people can create their own plan they can lift themselves out of it. I didn’t want or expect sympathy, but having someone to confide in was a huge help.”

To contact Oxford Citizen’s Advice call 08444 111 444.