A drop-in centre which has offered advice and help to hundreds of unemployed workers has been given more than £180,000.

Volunteers at Brighton Unemployed Workers' Centre in Crestway Parade, Brighton, will be joined by two paid members of staff thanks to the £184,082 National Lottery grant.

The money will be used to recruit a specialist welfare rights worker along with administration staff to support the new welfare rights service.

The centre, which has charity status, provides legal advice and representation for unemployed people across the city, taking up cases including employment and consumer rights and benefit payments.

In the past the centre has fought and won dozens of cases for the people it represents.

The charity receives between 50 and 100 inquiries each week including calls from people in Southampton, Kent and other parts of the South-East.

Charity treasurer Tony Greenstein said: "I was absolutely delighted to receive this money which has come on our third application to the National Lottery.

"The purpose of the organisation is to represent those who are most disadvantaged and try to redress the balance.

"The new welfare rights worker will enhance the centre and provide a huge momentum for the organisation."

The centre opened in May 1999 after the initial planning application was refused by Brighton and Hove City Council and the group was ordered to rethink the development.

A 300-name petition in support of the centre accompanied the successful application which moved the organisation from its former city centre home to the current site on the edge of Brighton.