WATFORD'S Asian community is rallying behind a council worker who provides valuable benefit and welfare advice, but is facing redundancy.

Watford Borough Council has agreed to withdraw the Benefits (Rights and Advice) service, and one-and-a-half posts and one casual post of five hours per week - a saving of £48,600.

But more than 400 people have signed a petition against the decision to scrap the service, and are throwing their support behind Phillip Elmes, who spends one day a week with the service at the Watford Muslin Community Project in Harwoods Road.

One man, who did not want to be named, showed the petition to the Watford Observer and said that the community wanted to say thank you to Mr Elmes for all the work he has done for them.

The petitioners agree that he is a "valuable member of staff", whose "dedication and commitment to his job and the community is extremely rare" and who is central to the services provided by the Association to the Asian and wider community in Watford".

Watford Borough Council said the service could be withdrawn because similar work is done by the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), Welfare Rights and Social Services.

Alastair Robertson, managing director at Watford Borough Council, said: "The Mayor has met with local representatives, and they have been happy with her explanation that there will not be a reduction of support for people accessing advocacy support as a result of staffing changes in the Town Hall.

"Rights and advocacy are not a statutory service that councils have to provide.

In fact many do not, but Watford Borough Council does.

Funding this year by the council to the Citizens Advice Bureau, who provide an advocacy service, is set at £204,190 and funding to the Muslim Project is set at £60,860.

These two projects combined receive a total of about 3.5 per cent of the whole Council Tax revenue for Watford."

This decision comes at a time when the CAB in Watford is set to close on Fridays while a review of its services takes place. A final decision will be made in May.