A new outreach service to make it easier for residents to register births and deaths in the city will be launched next week.

From Monday, November 4, a new pilot scheme will enable residents to register births and deaths in three hubs in the city. The service will be available on Mondays in Fairwater Hub, on Tuesdays in Llandaff North & Gabalfa Hub and on Thursdays in St Mellons Hub.

Around 5,500 births and 3,000 deaths are registered in Cardiff every year and registrations are currently undertaken in City Hall, with a small number each week also being done at University Hospital Wales. Both these locations can be difficult to access at times, with parking issues or long journeys on public transport for people living in communities on the edge of the city.

New births must be registered within 42 days and a death must be registered within 5 days. Registering must be done in person with a Registrar and cannot be done online.

Registering is free and takes around 30 minutes. Once you have registered, you can purchase a certificate for a fee of £11. Booking an appointment is essential and can be done byphoning 029 2087 1680/4 or emailingregistrars@cardiff.gov.uk.

A council spokesperson said: "This is a really positive initiative and one, which we hope, will make registering births and deaths a little easier for people.  We hope residents will benefit from having these registration services available locally in their communities. If this pilot is successful, we will consider extending the scheme to other hubs around the city.

"We hope that more people will now visit our hubs and there will be a positive impact on the services we offer there. New mums and dads will even be able to sign their babies up with our library service before they leave the hub, speak to our money advice team about benefits they may be entitled to, and much more."