KIRKCALDY is one of the worst areas in Scotland for personal debt.
Fife Council's money advice team dealt with debts totalling almost £1 million more than this time last year.
And the news comes in the same week it was revealed that house prices in the area continue to soar.
The cost of buying a home in the town has risen by 23 per cent from 2006 - the fifth highest rise in the whole of Scotland and almost 10 per cent higher than the national average of 14.2 per cent.
On average, property in Kirkcaldy now costs £148,062 - just higher than the Scottish average of £141,158.
Geoff Bates, from the Council's consumer education department, said: "Consumer debt problems have grown with the easier availability of credit.
"During the financial year 2006-7, the money advice team dealt with consumers' debts totalling £8,476,684, compared with £7,835,802 for the previous year.
"However, the debt report refers to the KY postcode, not necessarily just Kirkcaldy, which includes regeneration areas that are by their very nature areas of multiple deprivation."
He also added that two more officers have been employed in the department to help control the spiralling debt in the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the rise in house prices in the area has only made the struggle harder for many people, for whom buying a home means borrowing outwith their means.
Although Kirkcaldy is not the most expensive town in which to buy a home in Fife, it has seen a rise in prices that has not been echoed elsewhere in the Kingdom.
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