WORK has started on a major refurbishment of Wyre Forest District Council’s Green Street depot in Kidderminster.

The building programme includes demolishing offices and renovating two historic town centre buildings, which are currently empty.

The site, in Green Street, is home to the council’s frontline operational teams, including its waste fleet, parks and street-cleaning, as well as a range of commercial services.

From next year, the refurbished site will also house a new purpose-built base for the authority’s customer services team.

For the first time all council staff dealing with revenues and benefits claims will be co-located with colleagues in the council’s customer service team, currently based at Kidderminster Town Hall.

The council says the move will offer customers a more seamless and efficient service, while also improving working conditions and creating efficiency savings. The business case for the Depot 2020 project delivers a contribution of £25,000 each year.

Councillor Marcus Hart, leader of Wyre Forest District Council, said: “Our Depot 2020 project represents a huge investment that will pave the way for us to improve services to the public, create a good working environment for our staff and breathe new life into this part of the town centre which is in a conservation area.

“Although more and more of our customers are preferring to contact us via our website and phone, we recognise that there is still a need to offer face-to-face service.

"This investment will allow us to deal with some of their more complex needs in a better more seamless way.

“And for those customers who visit with mobility problems the new customer services centre will offer limited and disabled parking – something that simply is not possible currently.”

A spokesperson for construction contractors Interclass PLC, who are heading the refurb, added: “We are delighted to be working for Wyre Forest District Council on this exciting project providing them with the built environment from which they can deliver their operational services.

"It is especially rewarding to see historic buildings given a new healthy lease of life but at the same time preserving the past.”