THE signs were good for three council employees when they picked up a training award.

Paula Lythgoe, Shirley Coyne and Judith Shepherd successfully completed basic training in the British Sign Language.

They were among more than 70 council employees to receive awards presented by the Mayor, Councillor Paul Nesbit, at the annual Development and Training Presentation Evening at Bury Town Hall.

The British Sign Language certification demonstrated their ability to communicate at a basic level with people with a hearing disability.

Councillor Trevor Holt, human resources spokesman, said a wide range of learning and development opportunities had been undertaken by local authority staff.

This included for the first time an open learning programme in serving disabled customers.

He said: "Learning new skills or building on old ones is of benefit not only to our employees, but to those we work on behalf of."