COLEFORD council staff are among some of the most friendly and helpful in the country according to a new survey.

The Forest of Dean District Council has been rated more highly for customer service than companies like Sainsbury's, Tesco, the Hilton and P&O Cruises.

In the latest Customer Satisfaction Index published by the Institute of Customer Services, the council was given a score of 82.8.

That puts it alongside companies like Marks and Spencer homeware and clothing and well above the average of 57.5 for local councils.

They came close to top scorers like Waitrose and John Lewis who had scores of 88.

Customers are asked to rate the service on a scale of 1 to 10 on 20 key points.

Council staff came out well above the average for the friendliness, competence and helpfulness of staff with customers feeling they were treated like a valued customer.

Andy Barge, group manager for customer services, said: "I'm extremely proud of our team who work very hard to give a good service to every customer whether over the phone, face to face or by email.

"It's excellent to be up there with the big companies and so much higher than the average for local councils. This is a testament to the good work put in by staff."