RESIDENTS used electronic voting pads to tell council leaders how they should forge a new future for their community.

A conference titled Your Community Your Call, was staged at Murton's Glebe Centre yesterday, by Easington District Council.

Opening the event council deputy leader Robin Todd told the audience: "During October, we will be providing a high-profile presence in communities in the district to tackle the problems which concern you most.''

The audience included representatives from the business community, police and fire brigade.

Chief executive Janet Johnson said: "One of the main focuses for the district is improving communities for our residents.

"A vast amount of work goes into this task but we are up to the challenge and great advances have been made during the last few years.

"Some of the challenges we have had to face include a spoiled environment - the legacy of decades of coal mining - a breakdown of social infrastructure and lack of investor confidence."

Unveiling some of the plans, which will get under way in the near future, Ms Johnson pointed to business parks, new link roads, private house building, town centre upgrades and an improved environment.

She said: "It is not sufficient to deal with the physical improvement of our district. We need to ensure that our efforts bring about an enhanced quality of life for our residents.''