CHESTER-le-Street’s biggest landlord has won an award for its equality and diversity work.

Cestria Community Housing won the Practising Excellence in the Housing Sector category of the North East Equality Awards.

Cestria, which owns 4,200 council houses, has several initiatives to ensure it meets the diverse needs of its tenants.

It has an Equality and Diversity Working Group and is achieving the Leaders in Diversity and Investors in Diversity accreditations.

Cestria’s Corporate Services Officer Arshia Bhatti, said: “We are completely committed to ensuring equality and diversity is at the heart of everything we do and have introduced a variety of initiatives to help us achieve this.”