HALF VICTIMS GO COLD & HUNGRY

NEARLY half of victims have gone without food and heating or missed rent payments, says the Illegal Money Lending Team.

Most contact sharks through friends or relatives and end up paying back an average £700 to borrow half that amount.

The Birmingham-based IMLT has secured more than 380 prosecutions for illegal money lending, leading to jail sentences totalling 330 years since it began in 2004.