A group campaigning against the government’s legal aid cuts has sent Christmas cards to MPs warning them that they could be overwhelmed with constituents’ problems.

Justice for All, a coalition of legal and advice agencies, politicians, trade unions, community groups and members of the public, said that the £350m cutbacks ‘will leave thousands of people with nowhere to turn for help with serious and urgent problems’.

The card sent to MPs shows a picture of Father Christmas carrying a sack of constituents’ problems to a local MP’s surgery.

Justice for All says that the legal aid proposals will ‘threaten the capacity and even the number of law and advice centres which provide much needed support in these areas’.

‘The full impact of the cutbacks will be felt most by vulnerable people on low incomes – the very people who are eligible for legal aid, and who it was designed to support,’ the group says. ‘With nowhere to turn, the campaign fears that many will go without proper advice, and will enter a circle of despair seeking help from any quarter. Some will turn to their MP’s constituency surgeries, overwhelming these with complex issues that they are not equipped to deal with and cannot easily resolve.’

Membership of Justice for All is available through its website. The group claims that 1,000 organisations and individuals have joined since October 2010. Justice for All will be formally launched on 12 January.