A LIFELINE for drug addicts and alcoholics was cut off by a telephone firm.

It meant that staff at the pioneering treatment unit for addicts, could not field "life or death" calls.

Workers at the Lazurus Centre, in Sunderland, who provide round-the-clock care for drug users and alcoholics, say the error occurred because a phone firm signed them up as customers before they had agreed to the deal.

David Laws, the treatment centre's general manager, was contacted by Lo-Rate Telecom last month who said they could reduce his monthly bill, but he says he told them he was not interested.

Three weeks later, when he returned from holiday, he discovered the company had taken over the charity's eight phone lines.

He told Lo-Rate he was not going to pay the line rental bill and threatened to involve the charity's lawyers.

But when charity staff arrived at the Lazurus Centre - currently receiving 100 calls a day and housing 22 people - they discovered its phone lines had been cut off. After their frantic efforts, Lo-Rate relented. It reconnected the phones, offered to release the Lazarus Centre from the contract for free, and pledged a donation to the charity.

Mr Laws said: "These people called out of the blue. They have pestered and pestered me and somehow they have taken it that we've agreed a contract with them to supply our telephone lines."

Lo-Rate said it believed it had acted entirely appropriately, and that Mr Laws had verbally agreed to transfer to them on October 10 - even though he would need the authority of the four charity trustees to do so.