Lloyds Trading the Chart Thread

According to a leading firm of accountants, a record number of people will become bankrupt during 2006.

Grant Thornton has warned that almost 20,000 people will become either bankrupt or personally insolvent in the first three months of next year. Alas, overspending on credit and store cards during December will be the straw that breaks the camel's bank for many overstretched households. Grant Thornton reckons that the Christmas spending spree will signal the end for 6,500 (almost a third) of these unfortunate folk.

Although personal bankruptcy and insolvency figures go all the way back to 1960, the latest figures from the Department of Trade and Industry show that financial collapse is now a booming industry in the UK. Indeed, between July and September 2005, there were 12,000 bankruptcies, up 31% on the figure for the third quarter of the previous year.