House repossessions in the borough are among the highest in the country, a national charity has revealed.

Research conducted by homeless charity Shelter shows Barking and Dagenham has the second worst record in the country for repossession orders and tops the list altogether in London.

Using Ministry Of Justice figures, the charity calculates that 325 orders were made in the last tax year, or 6.52 per 1,000 people.

Corina Kemp, of Dagenham-based charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP), urged people to come forward to talk about debt issues before it is too late.

She said: “In the past year there have been seven cases where we have managed to stop the repossession going ahead by helping people with debt management.

“But those are just the cases we know about. There are many more we don’t know about, people who are too frightened to pick up the phone or who come to us when it is too late because their house has already been repossessed.”

More than 45,000 repossessions are expected nationally this year if the threatened interest rate rise goes ahead.

Shelter warns people to start preparing for higher mortgage costs now so they don’t find themselves at risk later.

n To get advice visit CAP at St Thomas Church, Haydon Road, between 10:00-2:30pm from Monday to Friday or contact Corina on 02085989533 or corinakemp@capuk.org Alternatively call Shelter’s free helpline on 0808 800 4444.