Students have helped bring free legal advice to the public right in the heart of the town centre.

The free legal advice centre session was hailed as a “huge success” after being held in Bolton Central Library’s temporary Crompton Place home last week.

The event was held by the University of Bolton in partnership with the library team.

Assistant teaching professor Ian Bowden said: “It was amazing for our team to arrive to find a queue of people waiting for our help.

The Bolton News: The session was held last weekThe session was held last week (Image: University of Bolton)

“Fortunately, the student team, as well as my colleagues Terry Cokell, legal advice centre co-ordinator, and Stephanie Brown, practising solicitor, were able to get down to work straight away and we were able to help around 30 clients during our three-hour clinic.”

Mr Bowden, who is also a solicitor advocate, says that he hopes to hold a similar event elsewhere in the borough in the near future.

The Bolton News: The event was held at the central libraryThe event was held at the central library (Image: University of Bolton)

Farnworth Library has already been suggested as a possible venue.

He said: “We have already had contact from a local councillor in the Farnworth area, who would like the service to be offered to residents and we are looking to see when we can pull that together. Details will be available in due course.”

The central library event was held on Thursday June 22 and saw the student team offer members of the public free advice and support on a wide range of legal matters.

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The event also allowed law students to hone the skills they had learned in their lecture theatres by working with real people on real legal issues that they may have been having, helping to prepare them for careers in the field.

As well as the public, the University of Bolton students also made a good impression on library staff according to library access officer and small and medium sized enterprise champion Rob Hetherington-Moran.

He said: “The event was definitely a success, both in terms of numbers and the help and support given to the people who attended.

"The feedback from attendees was extremely good.

“Students were, as ever, kind, courteous, competent and great ambassadors both for the faculty and the university.”