An estimated 3.5million home owners are being classed as mortgage prisoners who are unable to move or find a cheaper deal.

The news relates to one in three homeowners in the UK and the hardest hit are said to be borrowers who have been paying back their home loans for many years.

Thousands of homeowners are coming to the end of their mortgage deals but are being blocked by new lending rules put in place by banks and building societies when they attempt to get a new loan.

Plus, with house prices continuing to drop, the situation is expected to get worse.

A lot of homeowners are also finding it difficult to move house as they are not allowed to take their current deal with them.

Ray Boulger, senior manager at mortgage broker John Charcol said: " Many people are struggling to find the mortgage deal that they want. They are shocked when they find they no longer qualify for the mortgage they have already got."

Those caught in the mortgage trap are likely to be; Homeowners whose property has dipped in value leaving them with less than a 10 per cent deposit or putting them in negative equity, people who have incomes that have dropped or remained the same since they took the mortgage out, anyone with adverse credit, middle aged borrowers on interset-only deals and self employed workers who now need to prove their income rather than assuring the lender they can afford the loan.