The financial crisis is hitting individuals hard, with personal bankruptcy levels soaring by nine per cent across the county.

Maidstone has seen the steepest increase, with a 27 per cent hike in personal insolvency levels to 52.

Medway was up 11 per cent (196) and Canterbury (171) up six per cent. Only Tunbridge Wells (55) has seen a drop.

The number of personal bankruptcies declared across the county was 474, up nine per cent.

Insolvency specialists at KPMG expect further increases despite recent interest rate cuts

The statistics, released by the Ministry of Justice, show an increase in people petitioning for their own bankruptcy across the region, as opposed to being forced into bankruptcy by a creditor.

Nationally the three months ending on September 30 saw an increase of nine per cent over the previous quarter.

At the same time there was a small decline in the use of Individual Voluntary Arrangements - IVAs - which fell four per cent compared to last year.

The figures reveal that 14,369 people successfully petitioned the Court to bankrupt themselves and 10,251 agreed an IVA in the quarter July to September 2008.

Mark Sands, restructuring director with KPMG in the South East, said: "The downturn and the associated increases in unemployment are starting to have an impact. This is being seen not only in the increase in people choosing personal insolvency but also in the related issues of increased mortgagee possessions and the greater use of charging orders by unsecured lenders who have not been paid.

"Whilst consumers will fight to keep their family homes and both lenders and the courts have systems in place to ensure that possession is the last resort, once the property is sold there is often little reason for someone with other significant debts not to declare themselves bankrupt.

"For some the desperate step of selling their home before it is too late looks a forlorn hope in a property market which has almost ground to a halt."

KPMG says the average debtor proposing an IVA in the last quarter owed a total of £48,400.