The Honiton branch of the Citizens Advice Service East Devon, located next to the library on New Street, will close tomorrow (August 9) at 12:30pm for refurbishment.

Honiton Nub News spoke to Tim Bridger, CEO of Citizens Advice East Devon, who told us: "We are having to temporarily close the doors of our Honiton office to give the interior a much-needed refurb and revamp.

"Citizens Advice has been alongside the library on New Street for as long as anyone in Honiton can remember, and the years of service to clients have clearly taken their toll.

"With the summer upon us and the town en fete, we are taking the chance to give the premises a once-over, and make it more suitable for the 21st century.

"We are looking forward to reopening the Honiton office in September, so that we can continue the long tradition of providing a quality face-to-face service to those who need it.

"We will also be unveiling a range of new services in East Devon, aimed at helping people with Universal Credit claims, giving specialist energy advice, and helping people ensure that they are aware of all the help and benefits they might be entitled to and assist them in claiming those entitlements.

"The plan for the next six months is to expand the times we can offer the services, and also help people with accessing help from our network of trained advisors both online and on the phone.

"In rural East Devon, wth poor public transport and with many of our clients being unable to get to us, being able to provide support and advice through a wide range of channels is crucial."

While the Honiton office is closed, people can contact Citizens Advice for help and advice in a number of other ways.

Citizens Advice provides a national telephone advice service, called Adviceline.

This is available Monday – Friday, 9.00 – 5.00pm. Calls to Adviceline cost the same as calls to landline numbers.

You get the same high-quality trained advisors as you would see in your local office, but from the comfort of your home or workplace, and at a time during the day to suit you.

Adviceline is on 03444 111 444.

If you have a queries about Universal Credit, you can call the free Help to Claim service on 0800 144 8 444.

You can also chat to a trained advisor online, using the Webchat service. For more on this, click the red button below.

Citizens Advice East Devon runs offices and outreaches in other East Devon towns. Advisors are available at the following times;

Exmouth:

Sidmouth library – Tuesday – 9.30am - 12.30pm

Seaton:

Pippins Centre – Thursday – 9.00am – 12.00pm