THE legal team at Sedgefield Borough Council has received an award for the quality of the service it provides.

The council has achieved the Quality Lexcel Award for Legal Services and Firms, following external assessment by the Law Society.

It is the fourth year in succession the local authority's legal staff has attained the award, which requires in-house teams and firms to meet the standards and criteria of the Law Society.

The assessment procedure covers file management, and the quality of the work undertaken for the authority.

Solicitor to the council Dennis Hall said: "This is recognition that the council's legal staff have, once again, met the high standards of the Law Society's quality mark, and it has been achieved in difficult and changing circumstances."

Sedgefield Borough Council's team is the only legal division in a district authority in County Durham that has the award.