A COUNCIL says residents are benefiting from a shake-up of one of its main services which was once rated among the lowest in the country.

Sedgefield Borough Council is now in the top 25 per cent of local authorities in the UK when it comes to processing benefit claims of 11,500 people.

Since April, claims have been processed in an average of 19 days - outstripping national guidelines that state claims should be processed in no longer than 36 days.

The figures show a significant transformation from four years ago when the borough council was near the bottom of the same league table.

Brian Allen, the borough council's director of resources, said: "We are absolutely delighted with the improvement. We struggled with this service three or four years ago.

"We knew that the service required improvement, and that it would take some time to fully turn it around.

"It is a great achievement, and a credit to the hard work of our staff to be in the top 25 per cent in the country."

Further improvements are planned including the introduction of home visits by benefit staff and new technology.