Repossession orders have surged to a ten year high, rising by one third in the first three months of the year. Mortgage lenders launched county court actions for almost 26,000 repossessions in those months, up 35% on the previous quarter. It is the largest number of court actions since the beginning of 1995. The Council of Mortgage Lenders said the amount of court actions did not reflect the number of repossessions. These are running at historic lows of about 1,500 a quarter. It predicts that the number will rise from 6,230 last year to 10,700 in 2007. (Independent)