Legal advice will be more readily available to people who need it most thanks to a lottery grant.

Shepway Citizens Advice Bureau was granted £500,000 by the Big Lottery Fund on Tuesday.

It is hoped the donation will help people who are in need of better access to legal advice.

The donation was made from the fund’s Advice Plus programme and was the final instalment of an £18m nationwide effort.

Manager of Shepway Citizens Advice Bureau David Willis said: “The project will benefit more than 20,000 disadvantaged people who will receive good quality, consistent community legal advice to help them resolve their problems, tackle poverty and improve their quality of life.

“We will do this by inviting many other support and advice organisations to become partners with us in the Channel Community and Legal Advice Partnership.

“The partnership will develop a common referral system and common standards in quality and training. “We will set up contact points throughout the area so anyone can drop in and be referred immediately to the most appropriate partner to meet their particular needs.”

Big Lottery spokesman Alison Rowe said: “The most vulnerable people in our society are also the ones least likely to get the right advice at the time they need it.

“Today’s funding is crucial as it will pave the way for people to get better access to advice services, and to help them understand and resolve problems related to their rights and responsibilities.

“It will make a huge difference to the basic conditions of their lives.”