THE Citizens' Advice Bureau and its new Adviceline service in Okehampton has received a huge boost thanks to the generosity of the Okehampton United Charity.

The charity has donated £15,000 to the CAB to support the face to face sessions it provides in the Ockment Centre and keep the Adviceline service, which launched in April, running for a further six months past its initial six month funding period.

Bureau manager Viki Phillips said: 'We are incredibly grateful to the Okehampton United Charity for its kind support. This will allow us to keep our Adviceline service running and support those in rural areas who perhaps can't make it in to see us, as well as the face to face sessions. We are looking to extend our webchat service too so it should allow us to do that.

'At the moment things are going really well with the Adviceline service with the number of calls increasing by 62 percent in just the first month of operation.

'That is a brilliant result and shows the investment in Adviceline has been worthwhile.'

Karen Percival, clerk of Okehampton United Charity, said: 'Having the face to face sessions and the Adviceline gives Okehampton access to the CAB five days a week which is something we have never had before and is a great benefit to Okehampton.'