MORE than 200 council staff have begun moving into new offices in a phased operation which will be completed by the end of the month.

The staff at the development department for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council are on the move from their offices at Cargo Fleet to a new office block in Guisborough.

Belmont House has been built on the old foundry site at Rectory Lane and is also the base for the Guisborough payment office and the Citizens Advice Bureaux, which is moving from Chaloner Mews.

The three-storey building has 180 car parking spaces and is covered by security cameras. It was built for the development department and is equipped with modern workstations, meeting, interview and conference rooms, technical laboratories and staff welfare facilities.

Secure cycling stores and shower facilities are hoped to encourage staff to cycle in.

The sections on the move are housing and health services, planning services, regeneration services, technical services and performance and resource management.

The department's director, Joan Rees, said: "Any move on this sort of scale is going to have some logistical problems, but fingers crossed, we hope everything will run as smoothly as possible and that our service delivery to the public is not adversely affected."

The move is part of a multi-million pound private finance initiative, which includes offices for social services at Redcar and a South Tees Business Centre at South Bank.

The redundant Cargo Fleet offices are to be demolished.

* For more details on the moves, call Belmont House on (01287) 612301 or 612302.