A CRACKDOWN on domestic violence in the Canterbury area has been boosted by lottery funding worth almost £100,000.

The grant from the Community Fund will pay the salary of a full-time outreach worker to join the Rising Sun domestic violence project.

Latest figures show that one in every four women suffer domestic abuse in a lifetime and current statistics available in Canterbury reveal that the police receive 100 cries for help a month from women mentally tormented, bullied or physically injured by husbands or partners.

The Rising Sun project in the Northgate area of Canterbury receives 40 distress calls a week, with many more cases referred from the city's social services department.

The funding of £98,883 will enable the project organisers to expand their support to other parts of Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable where there are also serious cases of abuse.