Whitehaven Town Council has been told is it breaking the law by not providing disabled access to its headquarters.

Anne Bradshaw, chairman of Copeland Disability Forum, told councillors at a meeting last week that it was in breach of the equality act.

She also raised concerns about the availability of accessible documents on the authority’s website and asked that a Word format of documents is provided so that visually impaired people can use software to read them.

But councillor Brian O’Kane, council chairman, said plans were in the pipeline to make the building, on Queen Street, accessible for everyone.

He said conversations had taken place with Copeland’s planning department and because work was in the process of being carried out, his understanding was that the authority was not in breach of any laws.

Coun O’Kane also reassured the Copeland Disability Forum that they would be involved in the equality impact assessment and in ensuring the premises meet the needs of disabled people in the community.