A STATE of the art IT "nerve centre" is to house the computer systems that run the county.

Herefordshire Council's cabinet gave the go ahead for the centre - set for a secure site on the outskirts of Hereford - when it met this week.

The centre would be a base for all the council's IT operations and home to its modern records unit - which keeps the authority's official paperwork.

Cabinet heard that the centre also offered some scope to boost Broadband services in the county.

The centre is a key element of the council's IT driven Herefordshire Connects programme.

IT and records functions are currently split between sites that are not seen as suitable in the long-term.

The cost of the new centre, which would utilise an existng industrial unit, is put at more than £1 million.