A LEADING accountant has urged independent high street business owners to seek immediate help if they are being sucked into a debt black hole.

New figures show pre-pandemic borrowing for independents was £483 million - but extra borrowing through Bounce Back Loans is estimated to be £1.7bn.

With many of the loans now being repaid, business owners whose companies have not recovered from the pandemic are facing a mountain of debt.

Managing director of JF Hornby & Co, Paul Hornby said: “It’s so easy to bury your head in the sand - to ignore mounting debts, increasing financial turmoil and hope it will go away.

“The reality is that it will not, and situations will only worsen the longer they are left. Debt can become a vicious circle of decline which ultimately affects a business’ health and the mental and physical health of its owner.

“Funds were freely available during the height of the pandemic as the government sought to shore up businesses with loan schemes. Reality is now biting as repayment of those loans is beginning.

The figures were revealed in an influential report by former Wickes and Iceland boss Bill Grimsey. It says independent high street businesses owe four times what they did one year ago.

Bill said: “Our High Street independents have experienced a new-found appreciation during lockdown.

“But they’ve also been forced to take on Government-backed loans, which they would not have normally been able to get because their balance sheets wouldn’t allow it. "