THE city council is to invest £500,000 over the next 12 months upgrading its computer systems.

The shopping list, agreed yesterday, includes 250 new PCs and 50 laptops at a cost of £247,000.

Old PCs will either be reused within the council or donated to Oxfam.

The upgrades are part of the council's five-year ICT investment strategy.

Forty ageing central computer servers will also be replaced at a cost of £55,000.

Executive member for better finances Jim Campbell said: "The cost is significant and the life span of computers these days is short."

But he added: "I am confident this is £500,000 well spent."