COUPLES who need help with relationship crises over Christmas will have to call the Samaritans because a dedicated help service is closed.

Relate, which has offered help and support to couples since the war, has shut its doors until January 4.

The service has already been cut down to just 35 hours a week in Liverpool.

Mary Marrow, director of Cheshire and Merseyside Relate, said: "We could be open but it wouldn't make much difference. If people are having trouble maybe they could call an organisation such as the Samaritans which can react in a crisis.

"We aren't a crisis organ-isation and can't provide an immediate fix."

During an average month solicitors expect to see around 40 new cases of people experiencing relationship problems, but in January this figure doubles.

Carole Atkinson, a partner and head of the family department at Mace and Jones in Liverpool, said: "After Christmas people start to reassess where they are in life and what their relationships mean to them.

"The added pressures which Christmas brings on families, such as debts, may also play a part."

There is no longer a permanent base and centre for counselling couples in Liverpool. They have to travel to Manchester, Cheshire or Lancashire.

Liverpool's marriage guidance centre, which was based in Church Street, closed down five years ago.

Mary Marrow admits there is not a sufficient service being offered in Liverpool: "We can only use the health centre for six sessions.

"We do, however, require three times this amount of time and we should have our own centre."

Relate was set up specifically to help with the stresses and strains placed on couples as a result of them being apart during World War II.