AN outdoor adventure centre popular with Darlington youngsters is celebrating a £107,000 windfall.

The cash, part of a £1m received by Darlington Borough Council to promote sports and outdoor activities, will go towards developing an outdoor high rope course and improving dining areas at the High Force Centre in Teesdale.

The centre, near High Force waterfall, provides outdoor activities including abseiling, caving, kayaking and climbing.

Since it opened three years ago more than 2,100 pupils from Darlington have used the facilities at the centre.

The venue is part of the Darlington and District Youth and Community Association, a local charity that caters for the needs of young people in the area.

Chris McEwan, Darlington Borough Council's cabinet member for children's services, said: "The young people of Darlington will benefit enormously from this recent cash injection as the centre will be able to not only upgrade its facilities but will also be able to promote its services more effectively to schools across the borough."

The money, which has come from the Government's New Opportunities Fund, will also be used to make the centre's outdoor facilities more accessible to the disabled by providing wheelchair accessible paths.

Work should begin on the improvements by the end of this month ready for completion by late spring.

Staff at the centre are still waiting to hear about another application through a Strengthening Families Grant, which will enable them to extend their services to families that have experienced a breakdown in communication.

In addition to this, they are also planning a new concept aimed at businesses - I'm a Business Get Me Out of Here, a weekend event devoted to businesses that will help them with team-building and communications issues.