Relationship counsellors are battling to cope with a deluge of break-ups sparked by the dawn of the new Millennium.

Staff at Bradford's branch of Relate have seen their workload soar by 25 per cent over the past month and believe this is largely due to people viewing January 1 as "the beginning of a new era".

But while counsellors are currently able to accommodate the rush of troubled couples - with some 70 or 80 cases a week now being seen - a lack of cash could place the operation in crisis within months.

Manager Gill Midgley said if it did not secure substantial and stable funding soon, services could be cut or the branch forced to close altogether.

She said: "We are very busy at the moment but we are coping. The period after Christmas is traditionally busy but we currently have around 25 per cent more sessions than usual for January."

Mrs Midgley added: "People have high expectations of the holiday period, expecting everything to be happy and jolly. The fact that it was the beginning of a new Millennium will have added to this feeling.

"A lot of people will have seen January 1 as the beginning of a new era. If they were in an unhappy relationship they might have decided to sort things out or move away from it."

Mrs Midgley highlighted the service's success in helping to avoid break-ups, revealing that 50 per cent of those seeking its help stayed together. As well as helping couples with relationship issues, the charity also provides a "sexual problems service" and Time to Talk - for youngsters affected by the breakdown of a relationship.

Last year the centre, based in Westgate, was forced to close on Thursdays after it failed to secure funding from the Health Authority.

"Things will be exactly the same this year if not worse. We need to attract some form of extra stable funding otherwise we may have to cut services or even close altogether," said Mrs Midgley.

Although the office staved off closure, there was only enough money to fund the service until March. Without extra cash, the future remains uncertain for its 22 trained counsellors.

Mrs Midgley said: "We invite people to make a donation to the cost of the sessions which cost £30 an hour to provide. However, many of the people we are serving are in poverty and the average donation is £9."

Although Bradford Council provides £45,000 a year and a referral contract was recently agreed with Bradford City Primary Health Group, Relate remained "grossly under-funded", said Mrs Midgley.

"There are a lot more people out there who could benefit from our service but at the moment we don't feel we are able to shout more about it because of the lack of resources."

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