Fife Council's Housing Service is helping its 31,000 tenants not to panic and get help if they are having trouble paying their rent.

Recent figures show the amount of tenants in rent arrears across Fife has increased from £2.4 million in January 2008 to £3.2 million in January 2009.

Local Community and Housing Services Senior Manager Kevin Sayer said: "When people take up a tenancy we meet with them a month later to check they are getting the benefits they are entitled to.

"This helps people get on the right track with their new home. Having a house is a big responsibility, especially if it's your first. By working with our tenants and providing them with help and guidance we can hopefully avoid them getting into debt.

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"It's true that Fife Council can and does evict people from its council houses including those who don't pay their rent. But this is increasingly becoming a last resort for us. In 2007/8 Fife evicted 48 households compared with 112 in 2006/7."

Mr Sayer added that tenants did have a responsibility to pay their rent and council tax promptly: "These make an important contribution to our budget and these are bills which should be the top of people's priorities to pay.

"Our Local Services Centres throughout Fife are available to offer confidential help and advice to our tenants. Indeed recent changes to our bill payment service have freed up more of our staff time to concentrate on giving one-to-one help and guidance to people."

(CD/JM)