A TEESSIDE council is the first in the North-East to show how its services contribute to climate change.

Stockton Borough Council has been working with experts Arupa to produce a report on its carbon footprint.

It covers all aspects of council activity, from cleaning to construction.

Stockton Borough Council environmental project officer Mike Chicken said: "We had already embarked on the carbon management programme and we wanted to get biggest possible picture of what effect we were having on global warming, as part of our commitment to reduce carbon emissions by a minimum of 25 per cent by April 2013.

"When it came to publishing the report, we had no reason not to. It proves we’re taking our contribution to climate change seriously and we want to show that making simple changes can make a real difference."

The report revealed that the council emitted 47.7 kilo tonnes of CO2 in during the 2007/08 financial year.

29 per cent of the total figure came from direct emissions such as heating buildings and running transport, with the remaining 71 per cent made up from the procuring of goods and services.

CO2 hotspots included road transport, such as school pupil travel and bus hire and maintenance and repairs of council buildings.

The council is now looking into new measures, including sourcing low-carbon suppliers and producing as much renewable energy on council sites as possible.