Hove's Citizens' Advice Bureau was due to close its doors for the last time today.

The bureau office at Hove town hall has been shut after Brighton and Hove City Council cut its grant by £67,000.

Staff, backed by a petition containing more than 2,500 signatures, had run a campaign to keep it open.

Councillors refused to reinstate the grant, which amounted to a third of the funds the CAB needed to keep the office open.

People needing assistance will now have to go to the organisation's offices near Brighton station.

There are plans to provide an outreach service in Hove one day a week.

Hove MP Ivor Caplin suggested the Brighton office should close as it had limited access for the many disabled people who use its services.

He criticised CAB managers for turning down an offer of more space at Hove Town Hall to keep a combined office there.

They hit back by saying the city council was solely to blame for the closure by cutting its grant so heavily.

Lib Dem councillor Paul Elgood supported the campaign to keep it open and presented the petition to the council.

He said: "The closure will leave thousands of residents without a key lifeline.

"I point the finger of blame squarely at the Labour council, which should be ashamed of itself for slashing the grant."