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.

A sad sight

When German forces attacked France and Belgium in May 1940, six DLI battalions fought with the British Expeditionary Force before the retreat to Dunkirk and escape to Britain. On the River Dyle in Belgium in May 1940, Second Lieutenant Richard Annand won his Victoria Cross with the 2nd Battalion DLI - the first awarded to the British Army during the Second World War.