Find out about changes to our services and Christmas opening times on our Festive information page. To find out when your bin will be collected over the festive period, visit Changes to County Durham bin collections at Christmas.

Due to maintenance, the following systems will be unavailable from 11.45am on Tuesday 24 December until 8.00am on Thursday 2 January: our online Council Tax, business rates and housing benefit services, and our welfare assistance form. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Contact us by phone

You can contact us by phone 8.30am to 5.00pm (Monday to Thursday) and 8.30am to 4.30pm (Friday). If you are able to, you may prefer to avoid our busiest times which are 12 noon to 2.00pm.

General enquiries: 03000 26 0000 (including roads, footpaths and streetlights, rubbish and recycling, commercial waste, neighbourhood wardens, stray dogs, abandoned vehicles, pest control, street cleaning, litter and dog fouling, graffiti, fly tipping, fly posting, maintenance of parks and open spaces, parks and cemeteries)
Benefits: 03000 26 2000
Business rates: 03000 268 997
Council tax: 03000 26 4000
Registration Service: 03000 26 6000
Social Care Direct/Report a concern about a child: 03000 267 979 (your first point of contact if you are concerned about a child or young person, or need social care help and support)
Care Connect: 03000 262 195 (community alarm service to help people maintain independence)
Welfare Rights Service: 03000 268 968 (9.00am - 12 noon - for help with questions about social security benefit and tax credit issues)

Text messaging: 0786 009 3073