A COMMUNITY will soon be connected to the Web after a computer was awarded to a residents' group.

Ferryhill Station and Chilton Lane Ward Residents' Association has been given an Internet-ready PC and a year's access to the Internet by BT Community Connections, a UK-wide scheme.

The group was one of hundreds in the North-East which entered the scheme and impressed the judges with its ideas on how a computer would benefit their community.

Secretary Gladys Hall said: "This will help the unemployed in their search for work and the young and the elderly to use the Internet.

"Part of our plan is to open a community office that draws in services from all the agencies working in the Sedgefield area.

"Hopefully, it is a start in bringing our community back to what was once a place to be proud of."

She said: "The use of an Internet-ready computer will totally change so many lives, giving less mobile people in the community the chance to go shopping, meet friends and generally have a greater degree on independence than ever before."

Groups or individuals can still enter by logging onto the www.btcommunityconnections.co before April 6