A PARISH council is asking for backing for a £2m scheme to make up all the unmade streets in a former mining community.

Dene Valley Parish Council has written to Durham County Council and Wear Valley District Council urging the authorities to back a bid for European funding to bring the unsurfaced back streets in the area up to standard.

Councillor Chris Foote Wood from Dene Valley Parish Council said he hoped the other two authorities would help the parish take advantage of the funding before it was too late.

He said: "The money is there and if it is not applied for it will simply be allocated elsewhere. What we want is to have a meeting between the three councils and see how we can take it forward.''

Coun Foote Wood said a rough estimate of about £2m would see all of the unmade streets in Dene Valley made up and £6m would cover the whole of the Wear Valley.

He said: "It would be sensible to look at Dene Valley as a pilot scheme because it has the most unmade roads and then, should it be a success, we would look at the rest of the Wear Valley.''

If given the go-ahead, the bid could see the end of a long, drawn out battle by residents in Auckland Park who have been fighting to have William Street, near their homes, made up.

Councillor Dorothy Burn, chairman of Dene Valley Parish Council, said: "William Street will be made a priority and I am sure many people in Dene Valley will agree with that.

"The street is a real mess and children have to walk to school along there in hail rain or shine. We cannot even get the community bus along there to take them to school because it is a real hazard.''

Durham County Council said it was willing to meet with the parish council.

A spokeswoman said: "We would welcome any meeting and indeed for the last six months we have been in discussion with the Department for Transport about how we can resolve the thorny problem of private streets within the whole of the county.''

Wear Valley District Council was unavailable for comment.