THE cash-strapped Citizens Advice Bureau in Okehampton has been given financial assistance by Okehampton Town Council.
The authority's finance committee has agreed a cash sum of £400 despite an earlier decision not to award a grant this year because of pressures on the budget.
The loss of the annual £500 grant heightened the funding crisis for the CAB which had been forced to make its deputy manager redundant and reduce opening times.
After hearing about the financial problems at the bureau, town mayor Christine Marsh said in an article in the Times last month she hoped to raise the issue again with councillors.
Branch manager of CAB, Barbara Osborne, said this week she was pleased the council had re-considered its initial decision and £400 was a 'significant' amount towards the running of the bureau.
'I would like to thank the councillors — we still have a long way to go but this money has helped the situation,' she said.
Cllr Sheila Gregory, who is the town council representative on CAB, described the charity as a 'very necessary service'.
'I have not been involved with CAB for very long but the little bit I have seen has really opened my eyes,' she said.
'They deal with problems right across the spectrum from social service issues to financial and domestic issues.'
Mrs Gregory said 95 per cent of the people using the branch were from the town of Okehampton and it would cause a lot of hardship if it were to close.