THE North-East's first consumer advice call centre is preparing to go live across the region next month.

Twenty new advisors for Consumer Direct have been undergoing intensive training for the centre, which will be launched on Monday, February 20.

Consumer Direct is the one-stop consumer help and advice service for consumers, run by the Department of Trade and Industry.

The workforce underwent a selection process last October and staff are doing seven weeks of training before locating to the new base, at Redcar and Cleveland House, Kirkleatham Street, Redcar.

It will be one of 11 regional centres designed to help solve problems in a £30m Government initiative, expecting to cope with about 90,000 calls a year, from Teesside to Northumberland.

Councillor Joyce Benbow, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's cabinet member for community safety, said: "I'm delighted at the response to the recruitment process and the high quality of the applicants, which made our job very difficult in selecting the chosen few."

The advisors swapped their desks for paintbrushes and overalls yesterday as part of a team-building exercise.

Coun Benbow said: "Team-building events like this are an essential part of the process in getting everyone to gel and work together."