THE credit crunch is hitting North Dorset with job losses and repossessions on the rise.

Latest government figures show that unemployment in North Dorset was 10 per cent higher in June than during the same month in 2007.

Bev Higgs, manager of North Dorset's Citizens' Advice Bureau, said enquiries from people concerned about unemployment had shown a "phenomenal increase".

"Last year, we had 127 enquiries concerning unemployment during the first quarter of the year. This year we have done 257," said Ms Higgs.

And with home repossessions increasing across Dorset by nearly one third during the first quarter of the year, concerned homeowners are also seeking advice.

"People are in a situation where discounted mortgages are coming to an end and interest rates have gone up in the meantime.

"Families are being asked to find hundred of extra pounds a month on top of increased food and petrol costs," she added.

Cut backs were the only answer, said the consumer expert.

"Budget. Put your credit card in the deep freeze. The recovery time is going to be slow," said the advice chief.

Repossessions from tenants of rented properties have gone up by nearly 10 per cent in the first quarter of this year, according to the Ministry of Justice.

Malcolm Brayshaw, a partner in Blandford rental firm Forum Lettings, told the Daily Echo that some hard-up tenants were seeking to "downsize" from two-bedroom properties to one.

But homeowners unable to sell their property, and those unable to get on the property ladder, were fuelling business, he added.

"If people can't afford to buy, they have to rent. Demand is high," he added.

Blandford's traders were also bucking falling economic trends, said the chairman of the town's Chamber of Trade, Trina Horrocks, who added that rising petrol prices were forcing shoppers to stay local.

Emily Gasson, the Lib Dem parliamentary hopeful for North Dorset, said action must be taken if the hardships seen during the last recession were to be avoided.