AN event celebrating the achievements of Darlington's Firthmoor estate over the past five years was a huge success, a meeting heard.

Organisers of Firthmoor - The Story So Far, which was held at Maidendale House community centre, in Burnside Road, told the estate's community partnership board that scores of people had attended.

The day was aimed at promoting how far Firthmoor has come since the start in 1999 of a £3.1m regeneration project funded by the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB).

Boards around the community centre told the story of the many projects now ongoing on the estate.

Presentations were also given by neighbourhood manager Sally Forth and consultant Martin Wood, who carried out an evaluation of the SRB project.

He said: "Residents now have very positive views about the estate and believe that the estate will get better in the future.

"Major factors in this satisfaction include the pleasant environment, the convenient location, the presence of local facilities, the closed-circuit television cameras and several popular community projects."

Successes on the estate include a new school and community centre, a traffic-calming scheme, new housing, a nature reserve and a neighbourhood nursery.

Board chairman Bill Cook said: "It was a fantastic day. It was a day celebrating our success. If you ask anybody on this estate, they would say there is one heck of a difference from five years ago."

The SRB project comes to an official end next month after which the estate will lose its neighbourhood management team.

Mrs Forth said: "I always said if I did my job well, I'd work myself out of a job. There is a really positive feel on the estate now."