BARRATT Developments has started work on two flagship projects in the region that will create about 200 jobs during construction.

The developments, on a former power station site in Blaydon, Gateshead, and at Whitworth Park, Spennymoor, County Durham, will between them create about 1,000 homes. Barratt Developments secured planning permission for 261 homes at Blaydon after six years of negotiations. The 35-acre site formerly housed the Stella South power station, which was demolished in 1996. Mark Clare, chief executive of Barratt Developments, said: "The regeneration of the Stella South power station in particular is a challenge that we will relish.

"It will bring economic, social and environmental benefits to the local community which will stand it in good stead for decades to come."