THE Princess Royal praised the "crucial" work of volunteer advice workers when she visited a conference in York.

Princess Anne addressed the opening of the Citizens' Advice Bureau's (CAB) three-day annual meeting, held at the University of York.

Speaking yesterday to more than 1,000 delegates in a packed hall, she said society was changing and the organisation needed to keep pace.

She said: "People live much more independent lives than they used to: smaller families and smaller family networks, less obvious support around them and smaller houses.

"That independence is a tremendous thing, but it can also be defined as being a bit more selfish. It works fine, until something goes wrong.

"The work of the Citizens' Advice Bureau is absolutely crucial; people know that there is somewhere they can go for advice."

Princess Anne, who has been the organisation's patron for 16 years, told delegates how she had visited a bureau in Lincolnshire that had taken on Polish-speaking volunteers to keep up with immigration trends.

She was joined on the platform by guest speaker Charles Kennedy, the former Liberal Democrat leader.

He said his invitation, that had come only weeks after he resigned his leadership, and had been a "great morale boost".

He praised the work of the CAB but said too much community and charity work was stifled by red tape.

"We have an excellent charitable sector in our country," he said.

"However, too many of the smaller charities are either beginning to slide or are not coming forth because of the sheer amount of bureaucracy and legislation that surrounds them.

"They are beginning to need lawyers and consultants to advise them about how to go about things."

He said: "An awful lot of common sense based on day-to-day experience gets overlooked.

"That is why you have a very important ongoing political role to play."

During the conference - titled The Changing Face Of Society - hundreds of volunteers and workers will discuss the future of the organisation and how it can improve the services it offers.

It is the 20th year that the charity has held its annual meeting in York.