Mortgage lenders are launching fewer legal bids to try and repossess homes in Leicestershire.

Figures released from the Ministry of Justice show that between July and September, lenders went to Leicester County Court 295 times in a bid to repossess the homes of mortgage borrowers.

That was approximately a 10% drop on the previous three months, when lenders made 330 repossession claims at the court, which deals with cases relating to cases in the city and county. Leicester South MP Peter Soulsby said: "I think this is evidence that, in general, the measures the Government adopted from the outset, on the economy and to deal with the affects of the recession, have paid off.

"But it's been very tough out there and it will still be tough for a lot of people for some time to come."

The news came as the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), which represents banks and building societies across the UK, reduced its forecast of the number of people it thought would lose their homes this year.

The group now expects 48,000 properties to be repossessed in 2009, well down on their original prediction of 75,000, which had previously been revised, in June, to 65,000.

The figures were changed, the CML said, after a combination of low interest rates, Government help and tolerance by the lender helped people stay in their homes.

Housing Minister John Healey said: "I welcome the CML's decision as it means they predict fewer families will lose their homes.

"We have also tightened the rules so repossession is always the last resort, and lenders have to consider all options to keep borrowers in their homes."

However, Kay Boycott, director of policy and campaigns for Shelter, warned that this was "no time for complacency" as there were still many people facing repossession as Christmas approached.