TOWN hall bosses are spending £3.6 million to replace their ageing computer system with a "state of the art" alternative.

They say the new system will ultimately save money and speed up services for the public of Bury.

But they admit there are "very considerable" risks involved in the huge task of switching over, which need to be addressed quickly if the council is not to effectively shut down.

The council wants to move off its mainframe system and onto smaller but better linked systems.

Officers hope this might cut the time taken to process benefit claims by at least a half. Other customers, and staff, might be able to update information about themselves directly, with the whole system becoming an integral part of the council's policy to set up "one stop shops" across the borough.

Councillors at Wednesday's (May 19) executive were told that replacing "outdated" systems was crucial to the council's ambition to modernise services and meet government targets. Savings could potentially run into millions of pounds.

But officers acknowledge that making the change will have major implications for staff: both in the long term, and while they are taken off the job for training. They also say that they might have to draw up benefit cheques several weeks in advance so that residents do not lose out while that part of the system is down.