COUNCILLORS are being asked to approve plans to move a local authority's creaking computer system to a purpose-built headquarters.

Durham County Council, among the 200 largest users of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the country, is considering relocating its facilities to an £800,000 centre at Tanfield Lea, near Stanley, following a series of computer crashes.

The authority's main ICT facility at County Hall, which stores and processes information for the authority's departments, has suffered an increasing number of disruptions during the past year.

There have been a number of power cuts and air-conditioning failures, which led to the system temporarily shutting down.

In the worst case, fire broke out after equipment overheated and the entire system went down for three days. Services were affected for ten days while the computer links were restored.

On Thursday, members of the authority's cabinet are being asked to vote on proposals to relocate the main systems to a specially-redesigned centre in the Comeleon building, on Tanfield Lea Industrial Estate, as part of a partnership arrangement with Derwentside District Council which would move some of its own systems to the site from its existing base at Consett Civic Centre.

In a report to members, customer services director Alan Hodgson, said: "In the 34 years I have worked in the ICT industry, I have never come across such poorly-resourced and inadequate facilities."

He added: "I believe it is only a matter of time before we suffer a major systems failure."

At present, the authority's business continuity system - its back-up facility - is located at the council's depot, in Framwellgate Moor, which was set up as a temporary measure in 2002.

The site is now set to be sold as part of a deal to move the council's Service Direct workforce to premises on the former Mackays carpet factory, on Meadowfield Industrial Estate, in Durham City.

At the meeting, members will be asked to consider moving the business continuity facility into County Hall or Consett Civic Centre, which would become free if the main systems move to Tanfield, as a temporary move ahead of a proposed arrangement with Northumberland County Council to create back-up facilities at Morpeth.