The Scotsman reported today that, according to official figures, more than 3000 people in the Lothians are at risk of defaulting on their mortgages because of the credit crunch, whilst thousands more who are not covered by the statistics could be in the same boat.

The news comes at the same time as separate figures show a surge in the number of people going bankrupt.

Today a firm which specialises in buying homes on the brink of repossession so they can be leased back to their former owners said the number of inquiries it is receiving had quadrupled.