CIVIC dignitaries from the North-East attended an event at a reservoir in the region to commemorate a landmark anniversary.

It is four decades since the 1,000-acre expanse of water at Derwent Reservoir, near Consett, County Durham, became an integral part of the region's water supply - the North-East's second largest reservoir after Kielder.

Derwent - which provides drinking water for 200,000 people - has also transformed the area into a haven for sailors, walkers and anglers.

The largest stillwater trout fishery in Europe, it has more than 15,000 visits from anglers every year.

MPs, council officials, local landowners and representatives from charities and environmental organisations attend a lunch in a marquee near the site.

Ivor Ward's family lost half their land when work on the £5.5m development got under way in the Sixties.

He said: "At the start. we weren't very happy about it.

"But it is 40 years on now and it has really opened the valley up and brought tourists here."

Planning for Derwent Reservoir began in 1950 and work started in 1960 and took six years. It was officially opened by Princess Alexandra, on July 18, 1967.

It was formed by an earth dam across the River Derwent and forms the county boundary between Northumberland and County Durham.

The water from the nearby treatment works gravitates 27 miles to Washington to homes in Durham, Sunderland and South Tyneside.

Alistair Baker, of Northumbrian Water, which owns the reservoir, said: "What was once a farming valley has now become a vital source of drinking water. It is also a major tourist attraction visited by 100,000 people a year from all over the world."