A DEBT advice service which helps hundreds of struggling York people each year has been saved from the axe.

The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) warned recently it would have to scrap its debt service next month because of a cut in Government funding.

It said the loss of the service would be a “disaster” for York people, as it had given free, unbiased debt advice to 485 people who were struggling to control their finances over the past year, and demand was expected to rise further this year.

But now the Government has announced the future of the programme nationwide had been secured, saying it wanted to ensure individuals facing financial difficulty could get valuable impartial advice early, rather than wait until their problems become much more difficult to resolve.

The York-born Secretary of State for Business, Vince Cable, said it was vitally important that everyone had access to free debt advice.

He said: “I am pleased to announce the Department for Business will provide the £27 million necessary to maintain the programme of face-to-face debt advice.”

George Vickers, chief executive of York CAB, said he was “very pleased” the service had been saved, although he stressed he was not yet sure whether it might have to run at a reduced level.

He said the original level of funding had been raised a year ago, enabling York CAB to employ two debt advice workers and an administrative support worker, and he was not sure whether funding would now revert to the original lower level.

The CAB told last month how clients had written to say how the service had helped them turn around their lives.

Elizabeth Dobson, 48, from the Fishergate area of the city, said she had been at “rock bottom” because of £15,000 of debt and the service had proved a lifesaver for her.

Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban, said the Government intended to put the provision of debt advice onto a more “sustainable footing”.

He said: “We want to see a flexible and cost-effective response to debt problems, so that people can be helped in a way that works for them.”