A PIONEERING scheme to bring together community groups under one roof is to be tested in Brotton.

The scheme, which goes under the working title of the One Stop Shop, hopes to open before Christmas in a former hairdresser's shop on Laburnum Road.

The shop will provide a base for Brotton's community wardens, the police - who do not have a station in the village - and housing and neighbourhood services from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, who will hold regular advice surgeries at the centre.

Brotton councillors Richard Rudland and Brian Hogg say they will hold extra ward surgeries in the new shop, as well as advertising Skelton and Brotton Parish Council news and events taking place in the village.

Coun Rudland said that the benefits for people living in the village are that all their queries and concerns can be dealt with in one place.

"We are going to meet in there once a week, so members of the public can come in and, if they have a problem, we can refer them to the right person almost immediately," he said.

"It ensures that all the agencies in Brotton know exactly what is happening in the village and it saves us wasting people's time."

The shop will pay a peppercorn rent to the local authority and the running costs will be shared between all the agencies using the centre.

It is also hoped that a community conference room can be set up at the shop for other community groups to use for a nominal sum, which will go towards running costs.

Coun Rudland added: "This is the first time in the borough this scheme has been used because it is a new idea. If it works, it will go to other parts of the borough.