BUDGET cuts could force the Citizens Advice Bureau to close its Halstead office, it is claimed.

Don Smith, a trustee of the charity, said proposed reductions of its grant from Braintree Council were causing “extreme concern”.

Speaking at a council cabinet meeting, he told councillors the organisation was already speaking to staff and volunteers and looking at ways to provide an alternative service.

He said: “We have worked with officers of the council and agreed the four per cent reduction for 2016-17 and we have agreed the challenge of a 10 per cent reduction of £16,500 in funding for 2017-18.

“However, there are implications.

“The least utilised facility we operate is in Halstead and we are examining alternative ways of providing a service to residents in Halstead as there is a possibility that we would have to close the facility with the reductions that are being proposed.”

The Halstead office opens on two days a week at Ramsey College in Colne Road.

Mr Smith said the organisation moved its Braintree premises to Coggeshall Road last year after a peppercorn rent contract with the council for its St Michael’s Road base expired.

He said this meant paying an extra £9,000 a year in rent.

Mr Smith said other costs, such as National Insurance and pension contributions, had also increased, while people with “more complex needs” had doubled the workload.

He said: “The consequences of a further reduction for 2017- 18 are the cause of extreme concern and I would ask the cabinet to sanction more time for an arrangement to be reached that achieves a realistic and workable solution for both parties.”

In reply, Jo Beavis, councillor responsible for health and communities, said she was “surprised and disappointed” to see Mr Smith at the meeting.

She said: “This is in three years’ time. We are not looking at any changes now.

“The other thing that quite surprised me is we have a councillor, Councillor Sue Wilson, who sits for us and we have had no notification whatsoever.

"And she is the link between the board and us.”

She added that she planned to meet the CAB, but did not envisage any changes to the proposed cuts.