DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry figures show that there were 23,351 individual insolvencies in England and Wales in the first quarter of 2006.

This was an increase of 12.9 per cent on the previous quarter and an increase of 73.4 per cent on the same period a year ago.

This was made up of 15,389 bankruptcies, an increase of 12.5 per cent on the previous quarter and an increase of 51.2 per cent on the corresponding quarter of the previous year, and 7,961 Individual Voluntary liquidation.

This equates to more than 260 individual insolvencies every day for the first three months of this year or an individual declaring insolvency roughly every five minutes.