WESTLEA Housing Association is to close its area office in Calne as part of a scaling down of offices throughout the county.

Offices in Calne, Corsham and Wootton Bassett will close on September 29, to be replaced by a call facility at Westlea's HQ in Chippenham.

It is not cost-effective to employ people to man a cash counter for people to pay their rent, said Bernard Rossiter, Housing Services Manager for Westlea Housing Association.

In a survey last year of our tenants across North Wiltshire just 20 per cent said they wanted an area office.

Our officers will be available to spend more time in the community dealing with problems people may have with their houses.

Mr Rossiter will be in Calne on Monday, July 10, at 7pm in James House for a further consultation with residents.

We have not finished talking and want our tenants to have their say on what they want from the call facility, added Mr Rossiter.

Daphne Wheeler, the secretary of the Calne panel of Westlea Housing Association Tenants, welcomed the closures.