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A suspected loan shark gets a rude awakening as police raid his home on one of the most deprived housing estates in the land.

The swoop is part of a Christmas crackdown on illegal money lenders hitting struggling families with ­extortionate interest rates.

The 51-year-old man is still in bed when officers burst in and arrest him. He is allowed to get dressed before he is led away in handcuffs.

The dramatic scenes were witnessed as West Midlands Police and investigators from the Illegal Money Lending Team raided the property last Tuesday.

More than 310,000 households are believed to be using backstreet lenders in an industry worth at least £700million a year. And it is feared more struggling families will turn to them over the festive period.

It follows warnings the Universal Credit system will leave hundreds of thousands in debt and force ­people, many disabled, to borrow from sharks and payday loan firms.

(Image: Roland Leon Sunday Mirror)

An hour after the 7am raid on Coventry’s Wood End estate, a ­police dog trained to sniff out cash arrived. The suspect’s mobile was bagged as evidence but they were also looking for log books, credit agreements and anything else that could link him to crime. Cash, four mobiles and a laptop were taken.

Three years ago, Wood End was named the most deprived area in the West Midlands and the eighth most deprived in England. The arrest followed a two-year probe and a man was ­released pending inquiries.

The swoop coincided with a social media drive on how to avoid loan sharks in the run-up to Christmas.

Many sharks are violent criminals who intimidate and threaten victims. They take passports, driving licences and bank cards and PINs to get their cash.

Tony Quigley, head of the Illegal Money Lending Team, said: “This time of year is ­especially profitable as they prey on people trying to cope with Christmas. We’ve seen charges from assault and it can go even as far as rape.

“But the simpler cases are where people are ripped off. We see APR of between 15,000 and a million per cent. Many feel ashamed talking about debt and it is difficult to free themselves from loan sharks.”

Mr Quigley says his teams are now arresting a loan shark a week under a £5.5million Government drive. He added: “We want to get the message out that no matter how hard things are, never use loan sharks.”

(Image: Roland Leon Sunday Mirror)

Research by anti-poverty group Toynbee Hall and Coventry University shows more people are using non-regulated forms of credit, like loans from family and friends, to tackle short-term cash ­problems after failing to get payday loans.

Toynbee Hall policy director Sian Williams said: “Not being able to ­access fair and formal mainstream credit, as well as negative feelings at asking family for help, could create the conditions for illegal lenders to prey on vulnerable communities.

“More needs to be done to raise awareness of affordable lenders such as credit unions and ensure new ­universal credit claimants get proper support with the gap in income when they move to UC.”

Citizens Advice chief Gillian Guy added: “People with debts to illegal lenders are often vulnerable and more likely to have a disability, health problem or be out of work.”

Footie thug had 400 victims in his notebooks

Footie thug Mickey Francis charged 60 per cent interest on illegal loans.

(Image: Manchester Evening NewS)

It is believed the ex-pub landlord, security boss and wrestler lent £200,000 from 2013 to 2015, earning £125,000 in interest and fees.

But Francis, who boasted of his hooliganism in 1997 book The ­Guvnor of Wrestling, is now serving four and a half years for illegal ­moneylending and money laundering.

(Image: Manchester Evening NewS)

He was rumbled when a police ­officer called to a domestic incident at his home at Heywood, Gtr Manchester, noticed notebooks piled by the door marked “Piggybank Loans”. The find sparked an investigation which ­revealed Francis was illegally lending money to 400 people.

Francis, whose enterprise was based at his pub a stone’s throw from ­Manchester City’s Ethiad stadium, was employing some of his debtors as ­collectors and administrators.

‘I lost my wife’s ring to villains & feel cheated’

A desperate victim of a loan shark gave up family jewellery including his wife’s engagement ring as he sank into debt.

The dad-of-four was struggling to keep up with rent and council tax and believed he would not get a loan from a mainstream lender as he had several county court ­judgments against him.

The loan shark – who worked at a supermarket he used – offered to help with a cash loan in exchange for gold jewellery.

The victim said: “I just thought he was being kind. He told me he could lend me £4,000 but I would need to borrow it against some of my gold.

“All I wanted to do was keep the bailiffs from banging on my door and scaring my wife. I would lie awake at night wondering how I could ever get the items back. It’s heartbreaking to think they are gone.”

The delivery driver, from Leicestershire, was not earning a regular wage and the shark demanded £100 a month repayment with a 50 per cent interest rate on top.

The victim ended up paying more than £4,000 in interest on a £5,500 loan.

He said: “I feel disgusted and cheated. I was in a difficult place and I desperately needed some money. Maybe I was naive.

“I had never heard of loan sharks until ­investigators knocked on my door to tell me the guy I dealt with had been arrested.”

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.