Too many families in Harlow are losing their homes because of difficulties over mortgage payments, claims leading local Liberal Democrat campaigner Chris Millington.

New figures show that 474 orders for home repossession were issued by the local county court in 2007. Cllr Chris Millington said:

"474 home repossession orders means 474 families being turfed out of the house they have lived in, often for many years.

Many people remember the boom and bust policies of the last Conservative government that saw tens of thousands of people lose their home because they could not keep up with mortgage payments. Now it looks as though the current Labour Government has blundered into a similar mess.

The Government has failed to ensure there are enough homes to meet people's needs. For every ten families on the waiting list in England for social housing in 1997, when Labour came to power, there are now sixteen.

And Gordon Brown has run an economy that has been fuelled by a runaway credit boom he has done little to bring under control.

474 families in Harlow paid the price in 2007 for growing economic incompetence by Gordon Brown. There are now serious concerns that in 2008, the situation will get worse."