A QUARTER of people with debts in Yorkshire said benefit payment problems were the cause of their financial crisis, new research has revealed.

Bradford-based Christians Against Poverty (CAP), which offers a free debt service, surveyed more than 1,700 clients to find out how their troubles began.

CAP chief executive Matt Barlow (pictured) said: “It is sobering that so many of the people we help were plunged into debt because of the very system that was designed to be a safety net to vulnerable people.”