ACCESS for disabled people at Kendal's County Hall is to be improved.

Cumbria County Council has been given consent to install handrails, tactile paving slabs, dropped kerbs, better lighting and hold-open door magnets at the Grade II-listed civic building and its car park.

Uneven floor surfaces are to be repaired and desks will be repositioned in the council chamber to accommodate people using wheelchairs. The reception desk is also to be altered.

According to planning documents, the changes are being made to meet the needs of a new member of the county council who is paraplegic, as well as to improve access for all disabled visitors.

County Hall, at Busher Walk, was completed in 1939.