EAST Lancashire is facing a crisis in the legal aid system, which could leave many people stranded in an 'advice desert,' it was claimed today

That is the conclusion of a national report by the Citizens Advice Bureau which states that the community legal service providers in the North West have "limited service provision".

And East Lancashire and Blackburn and Darwen CABs have identified major gaps in employment advice provision within the report.

The main areas of legal aid are housing, immigration, employment and family law.

Differences were found between the quality of service received between these areas.

While finding a solicitor to deal with immigration law is described by regional CABs in Blackburn and Burnley as a "monthly problem", those in Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley record no problems at all.

The 1999 Access to Justice reforms, which established the Community Legal Service, applied market ideas to improve the quality of services and control the costs.

However as a result of cost cutting to create a more streamlined structure, the numbers of solicitors prepared to offer legal aid have dropped.

Rather than compensating lawyers on a demand-led pay-as you-go basis for assisting those qualifying for the state subsidy of civil legal aid, lawyers were required to apply for contracts.

Local solicitors say the blame for a drop in the amount of legal aid on offer cannot be attributed solely to them.

David Mc Craith, a partner with Howarth and Nuttall solicitors in Accrington (a Community Legal Service provider) and secretary of the Blackburn Incorporated Law Associates agreed with the findings of the report in principal but pointed to a lack of funding for the Community Legal Service in comparison to public services including the NHS .

He said: "The likely result of continuing cutbacks will be a reduction in the number of firms prepared to carry out Legal Aid work."