A RURAL advice service helping 3,000 people a year to cope with debts has solved its own financial problems.

The £19,720 grant from Teesdale District Council will allow the Citizens' Advice Bureau in Galgate, Barnard Castle, to remain open for two days a week.

Bureau bosses believed the service was vital as the number of bankruptcies in the area was high, but without the grant the bureau could have eventually been forced to close.

Bureau manager Spence Watson said: "Without this money, we might have had to cut down to one day or even half a day a week and that may have led to us shutting down totally.

"But there is a great need for our service, so if we can attract some extra volunteers we plan to open three days a week or even more in future. More and more, local residents seem to be in need of expert advice.

"The number of bankruptcies is high for a district of Teesdale's size, but it reflects what is happening all over the country."

More than 1,000 people have used the Barnard Castle service for help in dealing with debts in the past year.

Thirty have gone bankrupt on the bureau's advice and the others have been shown the best way to pay off the money they owe.

Mr Watson, a solicitor, said: "The people involved are from a whole range of businesses and occupations.

"Many other callers had queries about benefits, including disability benefits, so money was involved with them too. Others have advice about housing, employment and consumer matters.

"We are rushed off our feet on the two days we open."

The bureau is now hoping to appoint a part-time development manager to attract funding, and there are hopes that, if an extra four volunteers can be added to the 12 already working, the office could open for a third day each week.

The council said it was giving the grant, the same amount as in the previous two years, because it recognises that the bureau provides a valuable service for the community.

Mr Watson added: "Because of inflation, the grant is worth less than last year, but we are grateful for it.

"We are also thankful for money we get from various other bodies to keep us going."

The bureau receives separate Home Office funding for an advice service for prisoners at Deerbolt Young Offenders Institution, and funding for part-time projects at Evenwood and Cockfield.