ITS all systems go for the Millennium as St Helens Council completes a four year project to make sure its computer systems are 'bug free'.

Work by the Authority to avoid 'midnight mayhem' on December 31 has already earned the praise of the Audit Commission - the local council watchdog - who recognised that the town was leading the way on updating technology to make sure it is millennium friendly.

Added to this the council has a finely-tuned emergency action plan which can support other services such as electricity and gas if any system should fail. Teams of experts will be on hand should an emergency occur.

Council leader Marie Rimmer says: "A lot of work has been done to make sure all our systems can cope with the Millennium to make sure that services run smoothly for our residents".

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