A £500,000 project to give two Teesside housing estates a facelift is under way.

The money is being spent on the Parkfield and Mill Lane neighbourhoods, in Stockton, as part of the Government Neighbourhood Path-finder programme.

Work to be carried out on houses includes renewing of gutters and rainwater pipes, brick cleaning, repainting, repaving and resoiling of gardens.

Improvements have already begun in Walter Street and The Groves, in the Parkfield area, and work will continue into next year on a phased street-by-street basis. More than 95 per cent of owner-occupiers and landlords have signed up to the first phase of the project.

Jennifer Alford, the first resident to sign up to the scheme, from Walter Street, said: " It will totally improve the area we live in.

"Everyone is commenting on how marvellous it looks, even strangers visiting."

The regeneration initiative follows a long period of consultation with residents over the future for housing in the area.

The chairman of the Neighbourhood Management board, resident Alex Bain, said: "Despite the fact that the project has only just started, the improvements have already had a significant impact on the area's involved. It is an excellent scheme for the residents of Parkfield and Mill Lane."

The project is a joint initiative between Stockton Borough Council and the Parkfield and Mill Lane Neighbourhood Management Path-finder programme.

Stockton council has commissioned Accent Regeneration to manage the work.