Extra phone lines have been installed at Keighley and District Victim Support to help volunteers deal with hundreds of new referrals.

The extra workload of more than 200 cases in two weeks has been generated by uncertainty surrounding the future of the charity's main office in Bradford.

The scheme faces closure after having national funding worth £87,000 suspended over allegations of management irregularities.

Victim Support National Office has asked its sister scheme in Keighley to step into the breech until an appeal board makes its final decision next week.

The chairman of Keighley and District Victim Support said today its 21 volunteers - including two from Bradford who have offered to help - had contacted more than 200 victims of crime since the beginning of January.

Concerns have been voiced about the scheme's ability to deal with the extra cases. But Chairman Pat White said today staff were "coping comfortably".

She said: "I want to allay any fears concerning the service offered to victims in the Bradford area.

"There is not, and never has been, a need for victims to travel to Keighley, unless they wish to do so.

"Victim Support is an outreach service which is still available to all victims in the area whether they are from Bradford or Keighley.

"People can be reassured that wherever our office happens to be they will receive a sound and expert advice service delivered to the usual high standards."

Victims of more serious crimes, such as rape or murder, would usually be the responsibility of experienced staff at Keighley and District anyway.

Victim Support National Office has funded an extra full-time post for the Keighley office and increased existing staff hours to enable the branch to cope with the extra workload. Two additional phone lines have been installed, taking the total to three.

As revealed in the T&A earlier this month, the Bradford scheme will learn on January 25 if its appeal against the suspension of funding has been successful.

The problems are said to stem from a lack of commitment among the ten-strong management board to report on the scheme's progress.

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