MORE than three quarters of people responding to a council survey said they were satisfied with the authority's services.

Chester-le-Street District Council held customer surveys in six service areas in the past year, including benefits, leisure and refuse collection.

The authority hand-delivered a questionnaire to 2,200 randomly-selected households in the district, during October and November 2000, and got 1,096 responses.

The council's overall management of services was seen as very or fairly satisfactory by 78 per cent of those who responded. Councillor Malcolm Pratt said the council would not rest on its achievements, and try to improve further.