Money advice team kicks off campaign at football match

As many as 310,000 households nationally are in the clutches of illegal money lenders who are often charging extortionate rates of interest as high as 131,000 per cent.

Representatives from the Stop Loan Sharks Project will be at York City FC’s home game against Tamworth on Saturday in a bid to highlight the work of the scheme.

Talks are under way to stage similar events at other sports grounds around the region, including rugby league stadiums, in the hope of using community events to provide a lifeline for advice to victims of loan sharks.

The York event is the third event of its kind to be staged nationally, after the project visited Grimsby and Milton Keynes.

It is understood that there has already been an increasing number of reports to the Stop Loan Sharks Project in recent months, prompting concerns that illegal money lenders are stepping up their operations.

The head of the National Illegal Money Lending Team, Tony Quigley, said: “Illegal lenders are a scourge on our communities. They often charge exorbitant rates to trap people in a spiral of debt, and then use the most extreme methods to enforce payback.

“We would urge anyone who thinks they are a victim of a loan shark to contact us in the strictest confidence.”

The national scheme, which is overseen by a specialist squad from Birmingham City Council, has led to more than 180 prosecutions and custodial sentences in excess of 107 years.

A total of £37m of illegal debt has been written off and support has been provided to more than 16,000 victims nationwide.

An enforcement squad was launched in North Yorkshire two years ago to tackle illegal money lenders targeting people with mounting financial problems with the promise of a quick loan to bail them out.

While North Yorkshire is often perceived to be one of the wealthiest parts of the country, there is significant deprivation in some rural communities as well as cities such as York.

Further details and advice are available from the National Illegal Money Lending Team on 0300 555 2222.