A LOCAL MP has urged the prime minister to take action over the issue of people stuck paying "extortionate" mortgage rates.

West Dunbartonshire MP Martin Docherty-Hughes demanded that Rishi Sunak aids people trapped by excessively high mortgage rates, known as "mortgage prisoners".

These "mortgage prisoners', largely victims of the 2008 financial crisis, continue facing exorbitant interest rates due to stricter borrowing specifications, preventing them from finding better deals.

This issue has been likened to the Post Office Horizon scandal, provoking claims that action necessary action has not been taken by successive UK Labour and Tory governments.

Mr Docherty-Hughes, who has led parliamentary debates about "mortgage prisoners", highlighted his constituent, Chris from Duntocher.

Chris is at risk of losing his family home of 25 years due to surging interest rates.

Estimates suggest over 200,000 individuals across the UK, including 40,000 Scots, are trapped into paying Standard Variable Rates (SVRs) of 8.5 per cent or higher.

This issue has raised anxiety regarding the mental health of mortgage prisoners, who live under constant threat of home repossession.

During Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Docherty-Hughes said: "While there has rightly been much attention paid to the Post Office-Horizon scandal, there is another shocking example of Government and private sector collusion that began under the last Labour administration and continued under the Tories."

He detailed how almost 200,000 mortgage prisoners borrowed from high street lenders, such as Northern Rock, only to find themselves ensnared when their portfolios were sold to foreign firms like Topaz Finance and Heliodor.

The West Dunbartonshire MP urged the Prime Minister to meet with him and campaign groups, noting that those affected have seen their dreams of homeownership cruelly "taken away from them".

Prime Minister Sunak admitted: "I am familiar with the situation with mortgage prisoners – it’s something I worked on as chancellor.

"I know the Treasury and the current chancellor have been engaging with campaign groups and others to find ways to resolve it.

"It’s not an easy situation to fix overnight, but there are things that are being looked at as we speak."