THURROCK Council tenants will be able to check where they are in the queue for housing repairs online from autumn.

The council say the majority of calls their housing team gets is to do with when work will start on properties.

The system is part of the council’s plan to make the system more friendly for tenants, easier for council staff to use and quicker for all.

Councillor Lyn Worrall, in charge of housing, said: “This should make the lives of our tenants and our staff a lot easier.

“At the moment tenants have to phone up and ask about their repair and then staff have to delve through the systems to find the answer. Once the web based system is up and running, tenants will be able to find out what’s happening for themselves – any time of the day or night – this should speed up the repair service and reduce costs.

“Although this is the headline-grabbing part, there’s loads of other stuff going on too – for example the web-based service will allow us to track and analyse trends easily, we’ll be able to spot where potential difficulties are starting to occur and act before they become major problems.”

She added: “Other things we’re planning include using modern technology – infra-red heating – to help combat damp and mould – getting more people on programmes for training and job creation, and creating apprenticeships for local people too.”