Over £130,000 has been awarded to make buildings more energy efficient in County Durham.

Durham County Council allocated the funding to Durham Community Action (DCA) to be awarded to community buildings for energy efficiency upgrades to lighting, heating, insulation and draughtproofing.

The Energy Efficiency Grant Fund was shared between 26 buildings which each received £5,000 to make the improvements.

Due to the success of the project and increasing demand, the council has secured a further £200,000 to support more groups through DCA. Groups which were unsuccessful in the first round and on the waiting list to receive funding will be contacted about the grant.

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Cllr Mark Wilkes, Cabinet member for neighbourhoods and climate change, said: "A key part of our commitment to tackling climate change through our Climate Emergency Response Plan is to reduce the carbon emissions of buildings right across the county.

"Enabling organisations and buildings' managers to make energy efficiency improvements to their buildings not only helps us to achieve this aim, but it also saves money on buildings' running costs, allowing more money to be put towards the groups which use them."One organisation to receive the funding was Brandon Community Hall, which has used the money to pay for more energy efficient lighting and taps which automatically turn off.

"The centre has made a 40 per cent saving on electricity since the installation of the lights so far."