The number of personal bankruptcies in Sussex fell sharply at the end of last year.

But the county still outstripped the rest of England and Wales for the number of people going broke.

Brighton County Court saw a 30 per cent fall in bankruptcies in the last three months of 2007 compared with the previous quarter.

But that still represented a rise of 11 per cent on the same period in 2006 when bankruptcy petitions nationally fell ten per cent on the previous year.

Record numbers of people filed for bankruptcy in Sussex in 2007, 16 per cent more than 2006.

Nationally, the overall rise was only one per cent.

Experts believe people in the area are paying the price for years of easily available credit and soaring house prices.

Sarah Nancollas, a director of Worthing-based insolvency specialist Nancollas Greer, told The Argus the high cost of living in Sussex drives people further into debt.

She said: "We have London prices, without London salaries.

"You are virtually paying London prices for a property, especially in Brighton."

She said credit card debt was the major factor in the rise in bankruptcies, with borrowers able to keep the wolf from the door far longer than their basic income would allow.

When their credit was finally exhausted, there was no way out. She said: "It is a juggling act. People spend on their cards to maintain a lifestyle, or furnish their home.

"The people we see juggle their cards each month until they run out of credit.

"They get to a stage where they are using their credit cards to pay their other credit cards, robbing Peter to pay Paul."

Some people are also trapped by straitened financial circumstances.

Ms Nancollas said: "We are seeing people being forced to take salary cuts.

"People have equity in their property but perhaps haven't got a good credit record and are finding it more difficult to remortgage."

Overall, 1990 debtors filed for bankruptcy in Sussex in 2007.

Summer saw a 45 per cent rise.

Between July and September Brighton County Court handled 470 cases - 70 per cent more than in summer 2006.

Nationally, numbers rose at the start of the year but fell for two quarters in a row by December.

The year ended with a sharp fall in numbers in Brighton, with 329 cases in the final quarter.

Staff at Brighton County Court said the slowdown had continued into the new year.

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