WHEN you have money worries, your doctor's surgery might not be the first place you would go for advice.

But thanks to a new service from the Citizens Advice Bureau, residents in a Southampton community can do just that.

A new scheme will see a CAB adviser on hand every week at The White House Surgery in Weston Lane, Weston, to offer advice and information to people struggling to cope with debt.

The city council-funded project follows a similar scheme in outer Shirley which was launched in 2002 with regeneration funding after research showed that many patients - particularly older people - regularly visit their GP to discuss non-medical matters including debt problems.

Southampton is the first city in the south where the project has been run. It has previously been piloted in Birmingham and Manchester.

As a result of the success of the project in outer Shirley, Doug Gooch, a qualified CAB adviser, will be available to offer free and confidential advice every Tuesday morning at the Weston surgery.

Doctors can refer patients or local people can make appointments themselves.

Southampton CAB manager Robert Smith said: "As well as helping to reduce the workload of GPs the new service will ensure that many more people who are not at the moment accessing advice agencies such as the CAB will gain the information they may need to claim benefit and pull themselves out of debt.

"The aim is to empower people to take control of their finances and hopefully bring in thousands of pounds of unclaimed benefits to the area."

He added: "The location of the CAB in the city centre makes it hard for some people to access it.

"What we are doing is bringing it to their doorstep, which is something we are trying to do more and more.

"A GP surgery is very conducive to a successful scheme because people feel more comfortable about talking about their problems there."

The White House Surgery practice manager, Harry Williamson, welcomed the scheme.

"We are delighted to be working in conjunction with the council and the CAB to provide this service," he said.

"We are primarily here for the medical needs of our patients but if we can help with lifestyles in general then that is a good thing.

"Obviously doctors are doctors and debt counsellors are debt counsellors, so this is the best way of doing it.

"If a patient shares with their doctor that they have financial problems getting them down, then we can refer them to the CAB adviser."

The project is just one of several new initiatives in the area that have been developed by the city council to address the points made by local people in the Weston Action Plan launched earlier this year.

The Action Plan lists 37 different points that the local community identified as crucial to improve life in the neighbourhood and included tackling poverty and providing access to advice and information on managing debt.