ARRIVA Vehicle Rental has appointed MICHELLE JONES as rental manager at its Sunderland branch.

She will be responsible for the running of the rental business at the branch's offices in Riverbank Road.

Part of her role will be to ensure that vehicles in the fleet of 500 are prepared for customers.

Ms Jones joined Arriva as customer services manager in August last year from Benfield Motors, in Newcastle.

General manager Liz Mauritzon said: "Michelle brings a wealth of customer service experience to the role and we are delighted to have her on board.

Before Benfield, Ms Jones worked for rental company Burntree, and before that, was assistant manager for ten years at a Co-op in Nottingham.

She is from Chesterfield and lives in Durham with her partner and daughter.