A £2.8 million state-of-the-art centre offering a string of services under one roof is to open in Bradford.

It will help people with Council, police, health and job issues, with voluntary groups and advice services involved.

The Council believes the city centre scheme -- at the one-stop shop to be based in Britannia House - will enable Bradford people to shop and seek help at the same time. Customers will also be able to use computers and video links to talk to officers in other buildings.

The ambitious scheme involving 15 organisations became a reality today when the Council received a £2 million award from the Government to help to set it up.

The centre will be open for everyone needing services, but disabled people, the elderly, and members of the ethnic community are mainly being targeted.

The Council received one of the highest awards today under the Government Invest To Save initiative which encourages public sector services to gear themselves to the needs of customers and become more effective and efficient.

The organisations behind the scheme include Bradford Council, Bradford and Keighley District Benefits Agency, Bradford Employment Service, the Council for Voluntary Service, Bradford Health, the Citizens Advice Bureau, West Yorkshire Police, the Employment Service, Inland Revenue and Asian Disability Awareness Action for Bradford. The groups will contribute £800,000 towards the scheme.

Councillor Ralph Berry, the Council's Executive Member for Building Communities, described the centre as "great news for the district."

Paul Armstrong, district manager for the Employment Service, said: "I am particularly pleased as this gives us the opportunity to make the thousands of job vacancies that we handle more accessible to the people of Bradford by locating a job shop on the proposed site."

And Barry Malik, co-ordinator of Asian Disability Awareness Action for Bradford, was also full of praise for the scheme.

He said: "It's good news for Bradford and a great boost for those in the many organisations who are working together to improve services. A joint one-stop shop in the city centre will be the ideal place for people to get help while doing everyday things like shopping."

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