Historic changes in registration services across the country mean that, from Monday (26 March), all births and deaths will be registered on-line through a completely new web-based system.

This means that there will be no more handwritten registers - they will all be computer generated in future - and no more written certificates for events registered from next week. Eventually paper certificates will be phased out altogether and registration services will start using a national, electronic database for all life events, including marriages, from October 2008.

City of York Council's register office is prepared for these changes, which have required intense staff training and briefings on the new systems.

However, members of the public attending the office during the next couple of weeks may experience some delays in being supplied with historical certificates. These are usually supplied within the hour or posted out the same day, but, for a short time, may take two working days to produce as staff get used to their new ways of working. Couples that want to give notice of their future marriages or civil partnerships may have to wait a little longer for an appointment.

Superintendent registrar, Robert Livesey, said: "This change was probably inevitable as the service is governed by statute going back to 1837 and does not lend itself  easily to advancing technology.

"It’s about expanding customer choice and the idea is for the public to eventually register themselves without the registrar, although this may still be ten years away,
and bringing the service in line with the rest of the world."

(