A BUILDING has opened to signify the start of a fresh approach to improving community safety in south Durham.

The Community Safety Centre, in Bishop Auckland, will serve residents seeking help from police and fire services, councils, support workers and many other groups.

It is hoped that the centre's open-door policy will encourage people from Teesdale and the Wear Valley to seek the help and advice they need to feel safer in their own home and neighbourhood.

The centre, in Proudfoot Drive, on the Woodhouse Close Estate, will introduce a new way of working for the Wear and Tees Community Safety Partnership.

It will allow representatives from Wear Valley and Teesdale district councils, Durham County Council, street wardens and domestic violence and anti-social behaviour co-ordinators to work together on one site. There will also be advice sessions available for victims of crime and people facing drugs problems.

Bishop Auckland MP Derek Foster, who attended the opening of the centre on Friday, said: "This is a wonderful initiative to bring together everyone who can help make this one of the safest communities to live in."