BARCLAYS BANK has been condemned after they said they would charge a 69-year-old Hampshire widower £76,000 interest on a loan which lasted just six years.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Even their solicitor said so.

Reginald and Eileen Baylis needed money to carry out improvements to their Hampshire home and decided to take out a Shared Appreciation Mortgage (SAM).

The now notorious mortgages were offered between 1996 and 1998 by just two lenders, Barclays and the Bank of Scotland.

They were aimed at older people who wanted to secure funds in their retirement by releasing some of the value of their house.

Customers were given an interest-free sum in return for surrendering part of their home's future worth. Under the deal, no cash had to be repaid until the borrowers either died or sold up.

It sounded simple and proved popular with couples across the country.

But the repayment was based on a complex formula called a "loan to value ratio" - and critics say few people understood the full implications.

Homeowners who borrowed 25 per cent of the value of their property would have to repay 75 per cent of any appreciation -plus the original loan.

Now many borrowers are in dire financial straits after seeing their debt shoot up in line with soaring property prices.

They cannot afford to move house and are unable to pay off the loan, which gets bigger every day as property prices continue to increase.

When they die and their home is sold, their children will receive only a fraction of the property's true worth once the hugely inflated debt has been paid off.

Mr Baylis is among an estimated 15,000 victims and must cope with the situation alone following the death of his wife.

The couple moved into their two-bedroom bungalow in Holbury Drove, Holbury, in 1996 after paying cash for the property, which cost them £66,500.

Two years later, when the house was worth £80,000, they saw a SAM advertisement in a national newspaper.

Mr Baylis said: "We needed work done on our home but weren't in a position to pay for the work, so a Shared Appreciation Mortgage seemed very appealing. I went to a local solicitor, who also said it was a good idea."

But the dream turned into a nightmare after Mrs Baylis died of cancer in January and her husband decided to buy a smaller property.

"I couldn't cope with the garden and thought it would be nice to move to a nice little one-bedroom place," he said.

"But Barclays valued my bungalow at £187,950 and told me that when I sold it I'd have repay the original £20,000 loan, plus a percentage of the value - a total of £96,690."

Mr Baylis was horrified to discover he would have to pay such a large amount.

"It's disgraceful - nothing but greed," he said.

"If this were any other lending company they would be described as loan sharks. They are allowed to get away with high rates that cause people extreme stress.

"There must be thousands of people in the same position as me."

New Forest East MP, Dr Julian Lewis, said: "I've been approached by someone who is basically stuck in their existing property for life because selling up would mean downsizing to such a large extent.

"This was a flawed scheme that backfired and was discontinued, but people are still suffering.

"All I can advise them to do is stand firm and see if Barclays have the nerve to take them to court in the light of last week's court case."

The MP was referring to a Merseyside couple who took out a £5,750 loan and ended up owing £384,000 after they were charged 34.9 per cent interest.

Last Thursday their debt was wiped out by Judge Nigel Howarth, who criticised the "extortionate" sum that had been demanded by London North Securities.

Dr Lewis said he hoped Barclays would "take note" of the ruling.