BURY Council is up for a brace of honours after being shortlisted in the Public Servants of the Year 2004 Awards.

The "Team Bury" project board, set up to improve the rent collection service, is a finalist in the "team of the year" category.

And Mike Savage, borough operational services officer, could win the "nothing is impossible" gong.

The awards are organised by Public Finance magazine and are supported by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The Team Bury board improved the rent collection service from a "zero star" rating in 2002 to a "two star" rating 12 months later, with "promising" prospects for improvement. This contributed to Bury being named the most improved council in the country by the Audit Commission. Rent arrears owed by current tenants dropped from £1.08 million at the first inspection to £954,000, and a drop in the proportion of tenants in serious arrears from ten per cent to 8.5 per cent.

Mr Savage, meanwhile, has been praised for his work in bringing together clients and contractors, resulting in a rapid improvement in housing services.

Under his leadership, the turnaround of empty homes has halved from 12 weeks to five and half weeks, halving the rent loss on vacant properties. The council has saved £350,000 in vandalism costs, with 95 per cent of urgent repairs now carried out within timescales.

The winners will be announced at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London next Monday (May 10) in a ceremony hosted by newsreaders Dermot Murnaghan and Mary Nightingale.