FAMILIES have been saved from potential homelessness and seen rent arrears cut by more than £6,000 thanks to the district's Citizens Advice Bureau.

Wyre Forest Community Housing Project was set up in January 2002 to help tenants manage debts.

In its first year the monetary policy worker responsible for the scheme, Darryl Madeley, helped 42 clients reduce their rent arrears from £14,590.96 to £8,562.18.

The housing company pays CAB to provide the service.

Kate Bennett, manager of CAB in New Road, Kidderminster, said the community housing project had been highly successful.

"There have been a number of people who could have been evicted had we not intervened," she said. "A lot of people who get in a muddle with their finances spend most of the time juggling their money around without actually looking at why they can't manage it. So we sit them down and analyse it with them."

She added they had helped single mothers who had never managed the family finances before, but whose husbands had left them.

"Nobody trains people how to manage their money and a lot of people are actually spending more money than is coming in without realising it," she said.

Anyone who feels they may need help should call 01562 823953. The office is open from 10am until 4pm on Mondays and Thursdays, from 4pm-6pm on Tuesdays, and 10am-1pm on Wednesdays and Fridays.