Wandsworth’s cash-strapped law centres have been saved from closure after a Government minister swooped in and vowed not to let them sink.

Lord Willy Bach, minister for legal aid, met with staff at the Tooting High Street branch on Thursday to discuss a new business plan.

Trustees of South West London Law Centres (SWLLC), which provides free legal aid to 26,000 people per year, voted to shut down on September 3 over financial troubles.

Lord Bach said: “Our priority is that people who need legal advice get legal advice. So when we were asked to step in, the Government acted very quickly- within 48 hours.

He added: “This law centre can become an example of how law centres can work.”

SWLLC is the largest of its kind in the UK, with centres for Wandsworth, Croydon, Sutton, Kingston, Richmond and Merton employing 47 staff.

Two years ago, it struggled after the Legal Services Commission (LSC), which funds its work, began paying fixed fees rather than hourly rates.

Finances have been so tight that lawyers were forced to do administration on top of their cases.

The IT system was so old it was difficult to even operate a simply accountancy system.

SWLLC called upon Lord Bach to help update the IT systems employ administration staff to help make the centres more efficient.

There are also plans to draft in management and business expertise from City law firms, many of whom already help the law centres.

Lord Bach said: “Of course under the new scheme that we run legal advice on, it’s necessary that the back room should be run in a way that gives the greatest ability to law centres to run successfully. We are talking about public money after all.

“If there’s improvements that can be made, we want to make them.”

Micheal Ashe, chief executive of SWLLC, said: “It was very, very hard and grim for us early in September. Finding that we had a lifeline when we didn’t expect one was a massive relief.

“The main thing I feel now is hope, which is a really nice thing to have.”