Manchester city in red

ONE IN seven adult Mancunians has had a County Court Judgment (CCJ) registered against them in the past six years and could thus be barred from obtaining credit, says a report issued today.

Experian, Europe's biggest credit reference agency, concluded that one in 14 adults in England and Wales was in danger of being credit blacklisted because of an outstanding CCJ.

The study found that after Manchester, Hull was second in the CCJ league table with one in eight adults having one registered against them.

At the other end of the scale just one in 28 adults in Tynedale, Northumberland, had a CCJ against their name.

"County Court Judgments are one of the main barriers to obtaining credit," a spokeswoman for Experian said.

"If you end up with a CCJ, pay it off within a month of the court order - if you do this then the CCJ will not blemish your credit history.

"If you don't, the CCJ will stay on your credit file for six years whether it is paid or not.

"Many lenders do take notice of whether or not a CCJ has been paid," she added.

County Court Judgments are usually imposed for non-payment of consumer debt - relating to credit cards, personal loans and water bills, for example.