PAYDAY loan websites are being blocked from a council’s computers in a deprived town drowning in more than £10m of debt.

Figures provided by the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) have revealed that the 1,300 people in Middlesbrough seeking its help, who include residents from every ward, owe in excess of £10m.

Middlesbrough Council has announced plans to ban the 51 most popular short-term loan websites from its computers used by staff and accessed by the public at libraries and community centres.

Controversial money lenders can supply cash within the hour yet legally charge interest rates of up to 5,000 per cent.

Councillor Tracy Harvey, Middlesbrough Council’s Executive lead for Welfare Reform, said: “One of the main problems we are seeing is where members of the public, needing money to tide them over, turn to payday loan companies and soon become trapped in a cycle of having to pay back obscene amounts.”

More than £8m of that is as a result of pay day loans, credit cards, overdrafts and unsecured loans, said John Daniels, manager of Middlesbrough CAB.

“In the last two years we have seen an explosion in the number of people coming to us with payday loans.

“These companies are targeting the most financially vulnerable people in Middlesbrough and causing them further hardship, trapping them in a debt spiral from which it is very difficult to escape.”

Initiatives already launched in the town include regular benefit advice sessions and the Know Your Money Project which provides one-to-one financial advice and support to young people aged between 16 and 24.

The Northern Echo is backing a campaign, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, to tackle payday lenders by offering free advertising to every credit union in the North-East.

MPs on the Business Select Committee quizzed lenders, consumer groups, regulators and a minister about the industry this week.

Providers Wonga and Mr Lender said that only two to three per cent of loans were made to people who then hit financial difficulties.

Henry Raine, head of regulatory and legal affairs at money lender Wonga, added: "We aim to lend to people who can pay us back. We do everything we can to lessen the load of bad debt."

Middlesbrough Council which has already shed about 600 jobs since 2010 is set to lose half its workforce after plans were recently announced to axe another 1,000 posts due to budget cuts.