Fears bailiffs will knock on doors in Bridlington due to unpaid council tax
The town's Citizens Advice says the hardest hit group of people are singles and those with disabilities
There are fears people in Bridlington who are unable to pay their council tax may get bailiffs knocking on their door.
In East Yorkshire between January and September, there has been an 80 percent increase in debt enquiries to Citizens Advice, compared to the same period last year.
The charity in Bridlington says the hardest hit group of people are singles and those with disabilities.
Helena Sinclair, a service delivery manager there, said: "We're seeing lots of people looking for advice on any additional benefits that they can claim, and also people who've been hit with huge fuel bills and don't know a way forward with paying those bills. A lot have prepayment meters and those costs are even higher. People are in crisis with no money to do things like use their fridge or cooker.
"It's the busiest time that I'm aware of, especially with the type of problems that we're seeing. We've always run a busy service since I've worked here since 2017 but the types of problems that we're seeing at the moment are lots of people looking for that very emergency level support, where they're unable to meet basic needs like finding enough money for food and fuel.
"Bailiffs are often used to recover priority debts like council tax. So if people owe money and haven't contacted the council to try and manage that, often it will go as far as a bailiff coming to their home to collect that debt which is hugely stressful for people. They often turn to us unable to manage that situation.
"They can be people who are very vulnerable and may have mental health problems that make that situation even more worrying. Bailiffs weren't used during the pandemic so whilst the lockdowns were on, they didn't collect debts so there's a bit of a backlog as well. There's even more going on now because for a couple of years there wasn't as much.
"Certainly we're seeing a lot more people with council tax debt which can then lead to bailiffs collecting the money that they owe. Everybody knows it's one of the most important bills that you need to pay, so if people haven't got enough money to cover that one then it's a worrying indication that there's lots of things that are less important that they aren't managing to pay either and debts could be spiralling for those people."
For help, visit the Hull and East Riding Citizens Advice website or call their advice line on 0800 144 88 48 or email e-advice@hull-eastridingcab.org.uk
The Bridlington branch is located at 5a Prospect Arcade, Bridlington, YO15 2AL.