A project which helped pensioners claim more than £700,000 this year may have to close because of a lack of funding.

Impact was set up by Eastbourne Citizens' Advice Bureau with a National Lottery grant in 1998 to help pensioners get claim social security benefits.

It was so successful that in October 1999, East Sussex County Council asked the CAB to extend the scheme across the whole county.

Now the council has decided not to continue funding the project when its year-long contract ends because of pressure on its budget.

County Impact, as it became known, went live with county council funding in April last year.

Since then it has helped pensioners in the county claim £703,498 in benefits and grants, helping many of them find the independence they needed.

Project co-ordinator Lynne Davey estimated the amount of cash gained for East Sussex pensioners could rise to more than a million pounds if the scheme were to continue.

But the CAB has been told the project's council funding will end on May 9, forcing it to close.

Bureau manager Leighton Jones said: "I am flabbergasted at this decision. We have provided a service which has delivered many measurable improvements and made a huge difference to people's lives, many of who are among the most vulnerable in our community."

Councillor David Tutt, lead councillor for social services, said Impact's funding had come from a Government grant which had been cuty by £490,000.

He said: "It was not the only project to suffer from the cut. We want to keep this work going which I think is vitally important. Unfortunately the county council's own finances are very tight."