A COUNCIL has been praised over the way it handled a programme of redundancies.

More than 100 employees left when Durham City Council shed staff because it needed to make savings and re-structure its organisation.

A report into the council's human resources department by the Best Value Inspection Service said it did a good job.

The council's sickness rate, 6.5 per cent, was the second highest in the region in 1998. The inspectors rated the service as good - two stars out of three.