PEOPLE living on an Oxford estate will be able to get free face-to-face legal advice following the installation of a webcam.

The Cuddesdon Corner Fam-ily Centre, in Cuddesdon Way, Blackbird Leys, launched the Internet system on Monday.

Staff hope to encourage people to use it to get help on issues including domestic violence, employment and debt.

Marlan Higgins, owner of Legal Advice Direct, said the system would use a broadband connection to allow people to talk face-to-face with a solicitor in his firm’s Witney office.

People could see the adviser’s face as they spoke to him or her on the family centre computer, he said.

Mr Higgins added: “A lot of people don’t go to solicitors, because they’re intimidated at the thought of going into an office. This is a safe environment. It’s familiar and people feel comfortable coming into a children’s centre.

“We’re bringing the solicitor’s office to the community.”

Legal Advice Direct also has webcams linked to children’s centres in Banbury, Carterton and Chipping Norton.

Mr Higgins said the topics which were discussed most often were employment, debt, domestic violence and caring for elderly relatives or disabled children.

He said a typical online appointment lasted 30 minutes and most people who made inquires were eligible for Legal Aid, meaning solicitors could act on their behalf free-of-charge for future matters.

Trudi Ashmore, 42, who volunteers at the family centre, said: “It will bring people a lot of benefits. It’s easy to use — you just dial up the system and you get to speak to the solicitor.

“There’s a webcam involved, so you get to see who you’re talking to.

“When you go somewhere like the Citizens Advice Bureau you can have to wait in long queues, which isn’t always easy with a child in tow, so I think this will be very convenient.”

Jenny Martin, head of the Leys Children’s Centre, part of which is the family centre, said people could come to the centre for free legal advice on Monday afternoons from noon.

She added: “It seemed a logical thing to put this service in a place that people already know and feel comfortable in.”

For more details, call the centre on 01865 772951.