HUGE improvements have been made to frontline council services in the Caerphilly county borough, according to the local authority.

Caerphilly council published a report this week outlining the improvements, which follow major investment, a management shake-up and the implementation of radical new measures.

Services including highways, refuse collection, street cleaning, building maintenance, catering and cleaning, and parks and ground maintenance have been transformed and are said to be "trading successfully with healthy prospects for the future".

This year, the direct labour and direct services departments have made a combined trading profit of £1.9 million - and the extra money will be reinvested into the frontline services.

Councillor Colin Mann, cabinet member for finance, said: "We needed to address this growing problem so the council took a number of bold decisions about the management structures and operating procedures of the trouble departments, and these radical moves have now paid off."

Personnel cabinet member, Councillor Allan Pritchard, said: "I'd like to congratulate the workforce and the managers for their hard work in helping to achieve this impressive turnaround."