IN response to the article of August 24, "One-stop shop opens late and over budget," I feel there is a need to clarify a number of key points.

The cost of refurbishing the ground floor of the former Abbey building to create the new centre was approximately at £475,000 -- not £750,000 as quoted in your report.

Of the £475,000, £224,000 was funded through a Central Government Grant for Implementing Electronic Government in addition to an amount already earmarked within the council's budget for access improvements.

There has been a slight delay in the opening of the centre but this has been due to the need to ensure that the computer system that will underpin the service is working well and fully trained staff are in place. The delay has not resulted in any increase in costs.

Contact Burnley, Burnley Council's new contact centre, will create a major improvement in how the council responds to queries and requests for services.

The centre will incorporate meet and greet facilities, customer adviser workstations, private interview rooms, cashiering stations, waiting areas and best practice facilities for meeting the needs of disabled customers.

We have invested a lot of time and effort to ensure that Contact Burnley sets a new high standard for the council's public areas.

For example, the new centre has air conditioning and I am sure any resident of Burnley who has had to wait in the banking hall in the old Parker Lane building would recognise this improvement is needed. The centre has been specifically designed to be welcoming and 'customer friendly' and I am sure people who use it will be impressed.

MICK CARTLEDGE, Director of Community Services, Burnley Council.

FOOTNOTE: The £750,000 figure quoted in our report -- given to us by the council -- included its own costing of £350,000 which, it was said, had to be spent to make the first floor of the building safe before the centre could open beneath it.