The number of County Court Judgments (CCJs) against businesses in England and Wales tanked by more than a quarter in 2010 to their lowest level in two decades.

A total of 150,900 judgments were issued during the year, which was 27 per cent fewer than the 207,100 issued in 2009, according to annual figures released by the Registry Trust. The figures also revealed that the value of CCJs issued against businesses fell by almost a third across the year from £899m in 2009 to £613m in 2010.

Meanwhile the number of judgments issued against consumers also fell for the second consecutive year, from 707,900 in 2009 to 579,000 last year, a drop of 20 per cent.

However, the value of High Court judgments against both consumers and businesses rocketed in 2010 even though the number of judgments issued fell by 11 per cent.

The number of judgments against consumers, which had increased by 35 per cent between 2008 and 2009, fell from 1,270 to 1,239 last year, a drop of 2.5 per cent. However the value of High Court judgments issued against consumers rocketed from £521m in 2009 to £1.26bn in 2010