HOUSING and benefits offices which serve residents in Hyndburn's outer towns are to close later this year - with services being relocated to Accrington.

Residents in Oswaldtwistle, Rishton, Clayton-le-Moors, Great Harwood, Huncoat and Fern Gore, Accrington, use the offices to pay rent and council tax, get help with benefits and report housing problems.

But from September all but one of the offices is to close, and residents wanting to pay bills over the counter will have to go to a central office in Cannon Street, Accrington.

Councillors have agreed to set up a phone hotline so people can report housing problems, and a swipe card system for rent payments is being considered to allow people to pay bills at post offices and shops.

Hyndburn Council made the decision on the advice of auditors, who said housing staff would be able to make more visits to people in the outer towns if they did not have to man the offices full-time.

The auditors also said work was being duplicated by staff in the various offices, and that the cost of processing transactions at the district offices was too high.

The Huncoat office will be retained as a surgery where people can raise housing-related problems. The future use of the Clayton-le-Moors office will be discussed with the town's estates management board.

The closures will only save around £7,000, but are expected to provide a more responsive service for residents. No jobs will be lost.

Council leader Peter Britcliffe said the proposed new area councils, which will be decided by a referendum in May, would help people have a better say in how their towns were run.

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