Calderdale Council has become the first local authority to provide a 24-hour instant messaging services for customers.

The council has now extended the hours of its Live Chat web messenger service so that customers can contact the council’s customer care team 24/7.

The project is being done at no cost the council as the service will be provided by existing staff already providing out of hours phone support.

Since Live Chat was launched two years ago, nearly 40,000 chats have taken place.

Calderdale Council’s cabinet member for business change and customer service, cllr Lisa Lambert, said: ‘Since the Live Chat function launched on our website it’s continued to grow in popularity, from almost 400 chats in its first month to almost 3,500 chats in June of this year.

‘The expansion of the hours of this service will no doubt see this figure continuing to rise, and it’s great that customers will now be able to get web support whatever time of day they’re online.’