A WOMEN'S refuge has had to close its doors for three months after a wrangle between the charity which runs it and the building's owners.

The women's refuge, in Consett, County Durham, will not be taking any more referrals until March.

It follows a series of rows between the owners of the five-place unit, Three Rivers Housing Association, and Derwentside Women's Aid (DWA), which runs the centre on its behalf.

A spokeswoman for Three Rivers said, however, that all women needing help would still get it.

"Refuges are not usually busy at Christmas," she said.

"Women will stay at home at this time of year for the sake of the children.

"When the centres do fill up in January, all of them in County Durham will be running as usual, apart from this one."

A source told The Northern Echo that the DWA had run into internal difficulties earlier this year when it made several employees redundant as part of a restructuring programme.

But this did not satisfy bosses at Three Rivers, based in Framwellgate Moor, near Durham, who have ended the contract with DWA and are bringing in a professional team to run the centre.

Families that were staying at the centre last week have been rehoused.

Other women in Derwentside trying to escape domestic violence over the next few months will be referred to one of five refuges elsewhere in Durham.

The spokeswoman said the changeover in centre management was necessary to secure Government funding and meet inspection targets.

"The new service will have a more secure, long-term future," she said.

"It will no longer be reliant on charitable funding - we have got guaranteed funding for the next three years. If we had missed the contract deadline in March, then all the money would have disappeared.

"Either we close for three or four months, or we have no service at all for three or four years."

Martin Knowles, the chief executive of Three Rivers, denied there was a rift between his team and DWA.

"We are working constructively with Derwentside Women's Aid to transfer the service and the building back to us," he said.

"The refuge has provided a good service in the past. Like everything we do, we are constantly looking to improve and there are a number of areas we feel can be improved on in this case."

Derwentside Women's Aid declined to comment.