City of York Council is reminding customers that there will be a new message when they call the authority from next week.

The council is introducing a short telephone menu system for calls coming into the main 551550 number from Monday, 10 September.

Customers ringing the council will hear a short menu with the following two options:

"Press 1 if you know the name or extension number of the person you want to speak to. Press 2 to make an automated payment. Otherwise, please hold to be contacted to a Customer Service Representative."

The new system uses voice recognition technology (IVR) to enable customers who already know who they want to speak to, to be put through directly to them simply by saying their name or extension number.

Stewart Halliday, from the council's Public Services team, said: "The menu options have been designed following consultation with customers, and will be easy to use, with just three options.

"Not only will the menu system speed up the process for customers who know who they need to speak to or simply want to pay for a service, by directing these calls away from the York Customer Centre it will also free up more time for the customer service representatives to talk to customers with more complex queries.

"We estimate that over 200,000 calls a year could be directly handled by the new system.

"The menu options have been tested with user groups to ensure that they are easy to use. The council has no immediate plans to extend the number of options on the menu."