A HUGE revamp of Colchester Library to offer residents dozens of services under one roof is officially complete.

The month-long transformation has seen the ground floor community hub completely changed around.

Colchester Institute design student Fiona Morris won a competition to redesign the space and was on hand for the official reopening ceremony by Essex County Council's customers boss Anne Brown (Con), and Colchester Council representative Beverley Oxford (Ind).

Mrs Brown said: "This building offers a brilliant resource for the people of Colchester, offering everything from library books and housing support to tips on how to stay healthy.

"I feel privileged to be one of the first to see the new redesign by local design student, Fiona, who has done a great job. She has created a useful and attractive space to take advantage of council and voluntary services for years to come.

"Community hubs, such as this one, are a great way to bring together services to make them more accessible to the public whilst saving money for the taxpayer."

Mrs Oxford added: "I am so pleased to see the colourful and welcoming new space finally unveiled.

"Thanks to the hard work of our customer services staff, all the partners involved in bringing about this transformation and the contractors, the winning design has been wonderfully brought to life in only a few weeks.

"There really is something for everyone and I encourage both regular library users and anyone who has not have visited in recent years to come see it for themselves next time they are in Colchester."

Services in the new venue include residents registration services, Council Tax and benefits advice, library services, housing support, clinics promoting health and wellbeing, an outreach programme from Colchester Community Voluntary Services and a brand new sensory corner.

The councils were awarded £205,000 by the Department for Communities and Local Government to help fund the revamp.