PETERSFIELD Citizen's Advice Bureau (CAB) is reeling from the shock of having funding axed for its vital "outreach" home service. The decision by Hampshire County Council means that the CAB will lose, from next March, the ability to visit more than 100 clients in their own homes every year. Kirsty Stratton, manager of the town's CAB off Heath Road, said these people were isolated in a rural area, and without the vital home service they would have nowhere to turn. "We are absolutely devastated to hear we will lose the funding for this service," she told The Herald this week. "We have worked so hard to provide this and we regard it as the jewel in the crown of the CAB." She added: "We have already got a special team up and running to see what service we can provide in this area. This is much to important for us to just let it go." "We are talking about a service for people in our rural district areas who, because of lack of transport and other services, are unable to get any help and we are one of the only services there for them." Mrs Stratton and trustees of Petersfield CAB feared for the future of its outreach service after hearing earlier this year that Bordon and Alton CABs had lost the funding for their outreach services. She said although the other two CAB were funded from a different Social Services pot, funding pressures were the same throughout Hampshire County Council's social services budget. Despite strong bids by the Petersfield bureau to save its outreach, Mrs Stratton heard this week that the axe would fall early next year. "The county has said it funds the CAB in general and if we think the outreach service is really important we should take the money for it from that pot." But, said Mrs Stratton, this was totally unrealistic: "It's like saying to Hampshire County Council, if you want to increase your adult services budget, take it from the human resources or IT budget." Petersfield CAB trustees are now meeting to form a plan of action. She said the bureau needed support from the community as well as to find a source of funding, adding: "We need to know how much people want this service. I have already had fabulous letters of support from some of our clients, which is a great help." She added: "Hampshire County Council tells us it is getting less funding from the government and that is why adult services have had debates about funding those with 'critical' and 'substantial' needs, but what are they doing about trying to get more funding from central government?" She said the main object of adult services was to support preventative care. Mrs Stratton added: "But here they are taking away the main service that supports people in getting funding to help themselves."