A CAMPAIGN to change government policy and preserve a service which helps hundreds of people a year has been launched by the manager of Waterside Citizens Advice Bureau.

Peter Wales fears that the Legal Services franchise run from his CAB base in Hythe is under threat because of a funding freeze at national level.

"This freeze will deny access to justice," he said.

"There is already a shortage of services for people with debt and welfare problems in the New Forest. We want to keep our franchise but we need help to persuade the government to improve funding."

The franchise - one of only two in Hampshire - has been a success from its birth in September 2001.

Two part-time legal experts travel round the district to help hard-up residents fight for their benefits and solve debt problems. In the last 12 months, they have dealt with 800 cases of debt, and helped more than 160 local people recover £160,000 cash.

As with most CABs, the majority of the staff at the Waterside are unpaid volunteers, but adding the two qualified and salaried caseworkers has almost doubled the bureau's output.

"The franchise makes a significant contribution in many ways," Mr Wales said. "Helping people claim benefits increases incomes which means more cash to be spent in the community.

"Enabling people to claim the extra care they need means they can come home from hospital and free up a bed."

When the Waterside CAB's three-year contract was renewed by the Legal Services Commission this month, Mr Wales noted that no leeway had been allowed for any wage rise or extra National Insurance payment for the two staff. "How can a worker manage with no cost-of-living pay increase for three years?" said Mr Wales.

"We at the CAB can't raise bank loans, we have no reserves, we cannot subsidise legal aid. So we are putting pressure on the government now, while there is still time to reinstate cost-of-living increases."

New Forest East MP Dr Julian Lewis has taken up the cause. "There is likely to be a severe adverse effect in the CAB unless the government revises this unfair approach," he said.