A SUPPORT team is being established to help Darlington Borough Council's housing benefits work after the authority successfully bid for £32,000 of Government funding to improve customer service.

The money, from the Department of Works and Pensions Performance Standards Fund, will be used to provide a dedicated telephone help team to work alongside the customer services team.

Councillor Paul Baldwin, cabinet member for housing, said: "The section deals with more than 300 claims a week and now the team of benefit assessors will be able to concentrate on dealing with these claims quickly."