Carers are hidden heroes and heroines in our community. Some are still at school, and their schooling suffers. Others are in their nineties, caring full-time for a sick husband or wife. Their role is unpaid, hard and often lonely, especially in rural areas.

Without carers, the burden on local health and social services would increase greatly. Yet Craven, Harrogate and Rural District Primary Care Trust is refusing to fund the carer support officers of The Carers' Resource, who are seen as a lifeline by hundreds of local carers. The refusal is an own goal.

Carer support officers offer advice on welfare benefits, breaks from caring, leisure and training schemes and much more. They address specific problems which could otherwise lead to hospital for the cared-for person and perhaps the carer too. They save the PCT far more money than they would cost.

At a time of anxiety over whether extra Government investment is trickling down to the front line, this is a local issue which goes to the heart of the NHS debate. The PCT is supposed to bring services closer to the people and to be flexible in responding to local circumstances. Yet here in Craven it is standing aside from a humane, expert and value-for-money service which fits exactly with the its brief.

The carer suppport team has won national acclaim. More importantly its disappearance would cause anguish among carers and dismay among health care professionals, as letters to this newspaper plainly show.

Will the PCT now change its heart and mind? It will gain credit and respect if it now listens to local anxieties and responds positively.