A MOBILE service that aims to make life easier for pensioners in north Durham will be launched next month.

The Multi-Agency Resource Vehicle (Marc) will visit communities across Derwentside.

A team of officers from Derwentside District Council, the pension Credit Service and Welfare Rights will help ensure all older residents are claiming social security benefits to which they are entitled.

Councillor Liz Coulson, the council's portfolio holder for learning, said: "This initiative should help the council simplify its working practices and achieve its goal of relieving poverty within the district, making sure the right amount of benefit is paid to the right people at the right time."

The team will have laptop computers and digital cameras, allowing them to process claims from the bus.

"Our aim for the future is for the authority to have a team of visiting officers providing a truly mobile and instant service to the public, actually assessing new claims and changes of circumstances within their own home," said Coun Coulson.

"This will cut out the need for correspondence, less confusion for the customer, and a big increase in customer satisfaction."

The latest scheme will start ion April 6, when the Marc vehicle will visits South Stanley Community Centre.