A TEESSIDE library service has been praised by an independent report, which places it in the top ten per cent in the country.

Inspectors from the Audit Commission gave Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's service a two-star rating for being very customer-focused and said it has promising prospects for improvement.

The report looked at the Central Library in Redcar, the network of 12 branch libraries, the mobile library service, the service to housebound readers and the schools' resource service.

The report praised survey results, which showed that 98 per cent of users rate the helpfulness and knowledge of staff as 'good', or 'very good.'

But it claimed that its weakness was that 'the service is relatively expensive to run, because of the particular needs of the area.'

Councillor Ian Jeffrey, lead member for lifelong learning said the verdict endorses the public's satisfaction with the service and added that he believed the higher price was a strength not a weakness.

"It's a question of judgement and the views of our users told us they wanted the service to be preserved and enhanced. The cost was not raised as an issue."

He endorsed the inspectors' view that the council is now committed to developing the service as a central 'one-stop shop' contact point between the authority and the community.

"A lot of work has already been done, and a lot more is proposed. For example, free internet access is available for users at every one of our libraries."

Pat Thynne, commissioning inspector from the Audit Commission, said: "Additional services will include online electoral registration and voting, video conferencing and electronic information.

"We believe that the council's strategy to use libraries in this way will strengthen an already high-quality service and provide more value for money."