A community group needs to raise £12,000 to create a new mining banner for their County Durham village.

The Langley Park Miners' Banner Campaign believes that their village has been unrepresented at the Durham Miners' Gala due to the state of the existing banner meaning it can't be marched at the event.

Andrew Hedges, a member of the group organising the campaign, said: "The campaign came about because we realised it was the 50th anniversary of the pit closing in 2025 and were unaware of anything to commemorate the occasion.

"We are proud that our organisation has already successfully fundraised for a statue, now we want to make sure the village has a banner."

The group believe the anniversary is an ideal time to launch a campaign to create a new village banner and have received a quote of about £12,000 to produce it.

They are planning to hold a meeting for the local community on November 14 about the campaign and hope to raise the money through fundraising events that "connect the village back to its industrial history."

(Image: Langley Park Banner Group) Most read

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Jack Pringle, from Langley Park, told the BBC it was "saddening" that the village, which played a "crucial part in mining history," was not recognised at the event.

Mr Pringle said he believed the village had not been represented at the gala because the banner had been beyond repair for several years.

The group plans to run events including brass band concerts and is in the early stages of working with Mark Pinder and the British Journal of Photography to put on an exhibition of mining photography in the village.

They will also contact local trade union branches and cultural organisations to ask for donations, affiliations and grants.

Mr Hedges said: "It is really important that we preserve the village's identity and remember the struggle that working class people went through in our area in 1974 and 1984."