THOUSANDS of Bolton’s most vulnerable people will suffer under proposed changes to the legal aid system, it is feared.

Bolton’s Citizens Advice Bureau bosses believe it could be forced to close as a result of the reforms, with people no longer able to get its help.

Now Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi is calling on justice ministers to explain how they will protect CAB offices in Bolton and across the country from the impact of the changes to legal aid.

On a routine visit to Bolton CAB last week, the politician was told that changes being proposed by the government to civil legal aid could see the organisation’s funding cut by 65 per cent.

As part of a Ministry of Justice green paper, which is under consultation until February, the government wants legal aid to only be routinely available if life or liberty is at stake.

Last night, Ms Qureshi, a qualified barrister, was trying to persuade her fellow Justice Select Committee members to call in justice ministers to explain the changes to the system and find out what plans they had to safeguard CABs.

She said: “If legal aid is reduced or taken away completely then it is the most vulnerable people in Bolton who will suffer.

“I am going to table questions for the Justice Secretary Ken Clarke but the first thing I will be doing is trying to get the select committee to agree that there is a need to look at this in detail.

“People will have nowhere to get advice or information from if Bolton CAB is closed and that is the major worry. Under the proposals, aid will be cut for divorce, welfare benefits, school exclusions, employment issues, immigration in cases where the person is not detained, clinical negligence and personal injury.

Last year, Bolton CAB, which employs around 40 paid-for trained advisors and 50 to 60 volunteers, dealt with 14,000 new inquiries from local people.

Barry Lions, head of the Bolton CAB, said: “It would have a devastating effect on the people who require our help. The green paper makes no reference to where these people would go for help.

“It is false economy in our eyes and cost to benefit analysis shows that good, solid legal advice stops problems escalating which saves the taxpayer more money in the long run.”