A GLOOMY forecast of more debt and even more misery for cash-strapped families unless the local job market improves, was the dire warning from the Petersfield branch of the Citizens Advice Bureau this week.

As households struggle to make ends meet and the latest increases in East Hampshire council tax and water bills filter out of the pockets of hard-up residents, Amanda Whiteland-Smith, Petersfield's CAB advice manager, said that debt inquiries had seen a "massive increase".

The number of CAB debt inquiries are 50 per cent higher and the total number of debts of each of its clients is soaring, according to Ms Whiteland-Smith.

For full story, see this week's Petersfield Herald.