RELATE, the marriage guidance service, is to pull out of the region today - leaving thousands without support over Christmas.

It has been forced to close its North-East operation, the largest in England and Wales, due to a shortage of money.

Covering Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Scarborough, County Durham, Darlington and North Yorkshire from four branches, the service had been operating for less than a year.

The decision to pull out - which was taken by the organisation's trustees - has also meant the loss of five charity shops and 150 jobs, including those of volunteers, support staff and counsellors.

Although Relate was keen to emphasise last night that the centre had not gone bankrupt, it admitted that its running costs had been underestimated.

Alison Dorman, the organisation's marketing and development executive, said this had been compounded by a number of other problems.

"We've lost a grant from Redcar and Cleveland Council and our shops haven't come up to the budget that we expected them to," she said.

"In July, we centralised all our appointments on to an 0800 number and we had a loss of clients due to that.

"We got to October and realised that we were in a major financial crisis and unable to carry on unless something drastic happened."

The news comes as an untimely blow to local families, many of whom were relying on the service to help them through the stresses of Christmas.

Ms Dorman said: "We have had clients crying down the phone and a lot who are angry."

But part of the centre's problem has been clients' inability to pay the £30 fee for counselling sessions, which it has been forced to meet.

Harold Heller, chair of Relate North-East, said: "Of the ten most deprived areas in England, three are contained within the area of Relate North-East, and yet we have continued to offer services to all who need them, regardless of their ability to pay.

"We are naturally concerned that relationship counselling should not be lost to the area and will be exploring new ways of continuing services."

The Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Michael Turnbull, last night expressed his regret over the closure and pledged to do what he could to help.

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