STAFF at Brighton Housing Trust advice centre were thanked by the Mayor of Brighton and Hove, Councillor Pete West, for the work they do.

BHT Advice, at Community Base in Queen’s Road, provides specialist housing advice, a court duty desk possession scheme at Brighton County Court and an immigration/asylum legal advice service.

The advice centre has dealt with 714 housing cases over the past financial year and 343 of the cases have been in relation to homelessness and 77 about possession proceedings taken by a landlord.

A total of 208 cases were threatened with possession action by their landlord, and in 152 of the cases homelessness was prevented.

Cllr West said: “Being made aware of the work that the BHT advice centre does confirms even further how critical the work is for supporting the local community.

“Over the year as mayor, I have had the pleasure of visiting many BHT services, including the advice centre.

“Each service aims to combat homelessness, create opportunities and promote change.

“Seeing the statistics from this service highlights what an impact they actually make.”