Walk down the average English street and you would be hard pressed to find a family that is not in debt.

So the news that house possession orders in Oxfordshire have leapt was more inevitable than shocking.

We live in a never-never society, with mortgages, credit cards, loans and HP giving us mod cons today - and possible destitution down the road.

True, the Government needs to tighten up the lending laws and devise a strategy which helps people get on the property ladder without selling their souls.

But the heaviest share of the responsibility lies with the ordinary man and woman in the street.

Millions of people need to stop living in dream land, wake up to some harsh realities and start cutting their cloth accordingly.

It's not easy, but it can be done.

The alternative is that what's here today could well be gone tomorrow - and when it's your home, that's a frightening prospect to live with.