A MARKET town 'hub' is being heralded a success after bringing rural services together under a single roof.

The public sector services 'library hub' opened its doors to residents of Glastonbury, Somerset, earlier this summer in July.

It offers a range of public sector services under one roof including the Library, the Children's Centre, Registration Services and Mendip District Council's Access Point.

The hub has already been a big hit and a special morning of events will showcase what it has to offer when it formally opens on Wednesday 5 October.

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Visitors will be encouraged to find out more about county and district services – including health visitors and midwives, Age UK Somerset, Health Connections Mendip and a children's nursery.

County councillor David Hall said: "The feedback since the hub opened has been excellent and I hope this event will introduce even more people to what it has to offer."

He added: "Sharing space with organisations like district councils, NHS and Citizen's Advice means residents can access lots of help in one place."

It also allowed the council to save money at a time when budgets were under pressure.

More hubs are planned for other areas in Somerset and proposals are being considered for similar schemes across the county.

As well as easier access to more services, sharing spaces means the council can reduce running costs and sell redundant buildings – helping protect frontline services.

The move to the Glastonbury hub is expected to save the county council more than £1m. The customer access and shared assets project is expected to save around £3.5m.

Somerset County Council said it had made more than £100m of savings over the last five years and the council expects to lose a further £40m of direct government funding by 2020/21.

But over the last three years the council has had to spend an extra £8m supporting vulnerable adults.