LANCASHIRE County Council's Welfare Rights Service is top class.

The Service has just been re-awarded the prestigious Charter Mark, a quality indicator they first achieved in 1995.

Hilton Dawson MP joined local County Councillor Niki Penney to personally thank the local team for all their hard work. The Welfare Rights Service has been operating since 1987 in Lancashire and has helped thousands of people with benefit and other claims. They have also recently become the first local authority in the country to gain Legal Aid Board funding, enabling the service to expand its activities. County Councillor Frank McKenna said: "I am delighted that the County Council's Welfare Rights Service has again been awarded a Charter Mark. The Service has served the people of Lancashire in a first class way for many years, and is going from strength to strength. "We estimate that over £10m in benefits annually is being claimed by the community directly as a result of the work done by Lancashire's Welfare Rights Officers. That is over £10m going into the local economy that would otherwise not have done."

Hilton Dawson said: "I know at first hand how important the Welfare Rights Service is to the people I represent. It is a tremendous source of information and advocacy that ensures local people to get the help to which they are entitled. I am very pleased that their hard work has been recognised with this award."

Niki Penney said: "Our Welfare Rights Service can make the difference for people suffering from social exclusion and battling their way through the benefits maze. this award is richly deserved by the service's hard working and dedicated staff."