Private interview rooms and a dramatic facelift will be part of a £300,000 upgrade to Lincoln's City Hall.

Work on the project begins today.

Council bosses have earmarked the money to redecorate the whole first floor of their offices as part of a drive to improve the Orchard Street building.

During the renovation works, contractors will install the new interview rooms for pre-arranged appointments.

And the housing and benefits enquiry offices will be completely redesigned into one large open area.

City of Lincoln Council spokesman Councillor Sandra Gratrick said the aim of the seven-week project was to reduce the cost of providing customer services to 46,000 residents using City Hall each year.

"These changes outline our ambitions for a modern and logical approach to how we deal with customers on a face-to-face basis," she said.

"We have set out a plan that we feel will make a lot of sense. The new hub will help our residents to access their services more easily.

"Overall, it is hoped that these changes will significantly increase the quality of service we provide. And if we can reduce the 300,000 phone calls we receive per year, it will make us more efficient and save us money in the long term, too."

The revamp will also include a fresh paint job, new flooring and upgraded lighting. Work is being split into two phases, with the initial renovation starting today set to last until the end of March.

Once work on the reception revamp has ended, The Property Shop – which deals with issues for council tenants – will be relocated from its current home in Silver Street, to City Hall.