The centre, which is based at Mercury House, on Sherwood Business Park, will handle calls following the introduction of a new contact number for services.

• Click the green 'play' icon to see a video piece on the centre by Chad photographer Jane Hilton.

It has so far created 70 jobs and this will eventually increase to 120 as more people are recruited.

The new number — 08449 80 80 80 — was officially launched last week and anyone using the service will speak to a customer adviser who can offer information about more than 300 Nottinghamshire County Council matters.

Staff aim to answer 80 per cent of queries at first point of contact and if they need more information they will investigate it themselves rather than passing the customer on to someone else.

The contact centre has been based on the site since 2003 but this is the first time all services – from enquiries about roads, libraries, education and other matters – are answered via one number.

Coun Mick Storey, deputy leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, told Chad: "It is a customer service number which offers advice to people about council services.

"So far the scheme has been a real success and other local authorities have expressed an interest in establishing one in their area."

And project manager Sarah Thurlby, who has overseen the whole operation, said: "This is not a call centre in the traditional sense because it's not about answering as many calls as possible.

"We understand that some calls take longer than others, for example, an elderly person ringing to renew a library book might just want someone to talk to while they deal with an enquiry."

The customer service centre is open from 8am-8pm Monday to Friday and from 8am-12 noon on Saturdays and calls cost 3p a minute from a BT landline.