WOMEN living in rural locations and suffering domestic violence can now access help and advice that could allow them to escape from physical and mental abuse.

The Domestic Violence Intervention Partnership, set up by Wiltshire police, the county council and other statutory authorities, has recently turned its attention to women living in rural communities and how best to contact them. They need to be able to feed them information without it becoming gossip around the village.

Maureen, a victim who spent 26 years with an abusive husband before walking out, has spoken out in the hope more women will make contact with the partnership team.

She said: "My husband would occasionally hit me in the house but it was when he hit me in public in front of all our friends that it all came to a head. A gang of us had gone out together to the village pub and then went back to somebody's house. The more drunk he got, the more aggressive he became. He got upset at me talking to people, especially other men. He finally lost his temper and hit me.

"Then he just walked out, leaving me to face everyone."

If fate had not intervened, Maureen might have shrugged it off and eventually gone back to continue the violent relationship, but the following Monday she went to her GP for treatment to her injuries, which included a chipped nose bone.

She said: "As it happened, the doctor had just had a visit from members of the Domestic Violence Intervention Partnership team and he put me in touch with them.

"They were fantastic. They arranged a place for me to go where he couldn't find me and I could have time to take stock and work out what I was going to do."

Maureen now has a flat of her own and is rebuilding her life as a single person. Her two sons, aged 21 and 19, have also left the family home and become independent.

Maureen explained: "If there were leaflets available at the village shop, I would have to wait until there was no one in the shop before I took one, or it would become common knowledge in a few hours.

"If my husband found out I was planning to leave, it would mean another round of bad temper and possibly getting beaten up again."

It is the experience of Maureen and women like her that drove the partnership to find locations in rural areas where women could access information in complete confidence.

Post offices, village halls, shops, pubs, churches and other venues have been sought out all over Kennet district and the Sycamore Centre in Devizes also has information.

Helen Kidman of the DVIP said: "It is still early days but the feedback has been very good."