THEY are not just numbers. The figures represent life-long jobs lost, local businesses closing down, retirement nest eggs disappearing and families finding themselves homeless through no fault of their own.

Just days after the bankers blamed for the financial crisis queued up to apologise for the part they played in the recession, the Daily Echo can today lay bare its impact on the people of Southampton.

Official statistics, compiled for the city’s leaders this month and obtained by the Echo, reveal:

  • Only two new homes were completed in December – compared with at least 100 a month just two years ago.
  • The number of people presenting themselves as homeless more than doubled in the past three months.
  • Average Southampton house prices dropped almost £7,000 between October and January.
  • There are 100 empty shops in the city – more than double the number this time last year.
  • There are almost five unemployed people for every job vacancy.
  • People signing onto the dole rose 27 per cent in the past three months to 5,435.
  • The number seeking debt and welfare benefits advice from the council more than doubled in the past month.

Of course there is no way to put the number of lives destroyed into statistics. Just this week a poignant and tragic case unfolded when decorated Army veteran Bill Foxton ended his own life.

On Tuesday afternoon he walked out of his house, lay down on a park bench in the city centre, put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

His family said the 65-year-old was in a desperate state after he lost the family’s life-savings, believed to be up to £1m, in the alleged investment scam headed by Wall Street legend Bernard Madoff.

His son Willard Foxton said of the people behind the alleged $50 billion scam: “They’ve got my father’s blood on their hands.”

Last night, even one of the city’s most optimistic civic leaders said Southampton had yet to hit rock bottom and feared what the future held for the city’s residents.

“It couldn’t upset me any more, because each one of these people, they are not a statistic, they are men and women who go home to their families,” Councillor Royston Smith said.

“We can’t know what it is like for them if it doesn’t happen to us. Imagine spending your whole life putting money away for your retirement and then suddenly you find it’s gone.

“That poor bloke has thought to himself that his life is not worth living. It’s a tragedy and it won’t be the last one I suppose.”

In a brutally honest interview, the Cabinet member for economic development conceded Southampton’s economy would continue to crumble and that there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

“I’ve spent the whole time trying to talk up everything, I’ve tried to keep a positive spin on everything, but the truth of it is that things aren’t getting any better and they aren’t likely to in the short term,” he said.

Asked if he expected any improvement in 2009, the Conservative candidate for Southampton Itchen replied: “I just can’t see where the improvement is going to come from.

“We can continue to do our best to try to get people back into work, but frankly the truth is that we are not anywhere near the bottom yet and the Government have absolutely no answers.”

Cllr Smith said Southampton’s decline was comparable with neighbouring southern cities such as Bristol, Portsmouth and Brighton.

“Let’s not forget that we’ve just opened Ikea, that is 500 jobs, but when Ford announce they are shedding 500 jobs it completely neutralises it. We can’t keep on heralding Ikea as the saviour to us all,” he said.

“Southampton has bucked the n Continued over page trend in some respects, but the truth is we are in serious trouble. This is the worst we have seen.

“Nobody can spin these figures. I can’t say it’s just a blip, because in the next four, five or six months I can’t see a whole load of new jobs coming on. We have no jobs, we have no construction and we have no retail coming on stream. This can only get worse.”

Neighbouring Liberal Democrat-controlled councils in Eastleigh and Portsmouth have both recently announced low interest loan schemes for homebuyers and businesses.

But Cllr Smith said the financial situation at Southampton City Council was so dire that there was simply no cash to help residents.

“As much as I would like to do it, we simply don’t have any money. We could raise parking charges or council tax, but that is not going to help anyone.

“I don’t think a tokenistic sum is going to help very much at this stage. We need to match people up with the vacancies that there are – that is the key.”