Scots are almost twice as likely to be declared bankrupt as people living in the rest of Britain, latest figures show.

Accountancy and business advice firm PKF said people continued to face "extreme financial difficulties", with the last four years showing record numbers of people being made insolvent.

And the company warned that there was little sign of the picture improving in the short term as unemployment continues to rise and the housing market flatlines.

Homeowners with jobs were at greatest risk of bankruptcy, which PKF said was due to wage freezes, job cuts in the public sector and people increasing their mortgages to fund their lifestyles.

The number of bankruptcies fell overall by 3.4% in 2011 to 19,634, or 38 people in every 10,000.

The figure for England and Wales was 119,850, representing 22 out of every 10,000 people.

Bryan Jackson, corporate recovery partner with PKF, said: "These figures show that Scots are continuing to experience extreme financial difficulties at a much greater rate than their counterparts south of the border.

"This is undoubtedly due to the higher proportion of public sector jobs being cut, wage freezes in the public sector and perhaps more speculatively, an over-reliance on the housing bubble to fund lifestyles."

The figures also showed the number of Protected Trust Deeds (PTDs) issued in Scotland reached its second-highest level in 2011, with 8,522 deeds issued.

PTDs allow debts to be legally repaid over a specified period of time, but require the debtor to have assets, such as a house, which can be placed in trust and sold to pay off creditors. The last three years are said to have seen the three highest-ever figures for PTDs in Scotland, with 2009 being the worst.

"It is starting to become clear that the section of the population being hit the hardest is now the employed homeowners," Mr Jackson said.

"While there has been a fall in the overall number of Scots being made bankrupt it is clear that the rise in PTDs indicates that the more affluent in society are starting to be adversely affected.

"Unfortunately it is hard to see this situation changing. House prices remain static or falling, wages are frozen and unemployment is rising.

"The real concern is where will it all end? I believe that we have several more years of similar numbers of Scots falling into insolvency before we escape these difficult economic times."