PLANS for a £1m cash injection for better council services in Redcar and Cleveland have been announced.

The package, agreed earlier this week by the council's ruling Labour group, comes after the authority announced it would not be increasing council tax levels.

The package, which comes from efficiency savings across the borough, will help people throughout Redcar and east Cleveland.

One of the key recommendations is the introduction of a council tax exemption for war widows and war pensioners.

Groups like the British Legion have been campaigning for tax exemptions for a long time and the move has delighted Redcar MP Mo Mowlam.

She said: "I am delighted with the news of the announcement. I have been lobbied for many years by war pensioners and war widows to get the council to make an exemption, and I am absolutely delighted for them. I am pleased the council has managed to achieve this."

Another key move will see the extension of a community warden service, currently operating in Eston, Normanby and Brotton, to the whole of the borough.

A radically improved concessionary bus scheme will also be introduced, as will measures to improve the borough's highway maintenance with increased services.

Children throughout the area will also benefit from the cash with the recruitment of 14 new playleaders offering summer play activities. There will be further help for foster parents and those with learning disabilities and a contribution towards the development of a youth offender service in Redcar and Cleveland.

Council leader David Walsh said last night: "This is a proud achievement by the council and represents the culmination of two years' gruelling work by Labour members and the council's officers. We can now truly say that Redcar and Cleveland has turned the corner, and can now punch above its weight in delivering services to our community.

"We are proud to have targeted improvements to those areas that the community have identified as key to a good quality of life. We are also conscious of our socialist principles, and have made sure that those who have struggled to create today's world - our pensioners and war veterans - are able to benefit from our efforts.