Worcester City Council employees are to sit tests to scrutinise their sensitivity towards disabled people.

The authority has pledged to offer disabled residents a better deal in future. It claims to be one of the first in the country to sign up to a new distance learning programme.

Called Serving Disabled Customers, the package is designed to boost communication with colleagues as well as residents.

The programme was unveiled this month and the city council was one of three authorities in England - the others being Sunderland and Southampton - to take part in the scheme's launch.

"We must work to make sure all our customers and staff enjoy equality of opportunity," said Celia Gardner, the city council's training officer.

"It's vital that our employees are aware of some of the specific needs disabled customers and colleagues may have and that we give them the training they need to communicate properly.

"Ultimately Worcester City Council could be taken to court if members of the public believe we aren't meeting our obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act."

The first phase of training is expected to start in mid-January.

More than a hundred members of staff will complete a work booklet about the Act, over six weeks.

They will then have to call a "national interactive test line", in which they will be asked a dozen questions about the "dos and don'ts" of serving people with disabilities. Candidates must answer nine correctly to pass muster.

The previous Conservative Government made it illegal for service providers to treat people with disabilities less favourably than others, and last year the law was amended so authorities have to make "reasonable adjustments" to assist disabled residents.

From 2004, public buildings must be free of obstacles to people with disabilities.