ALLOTMENT holders in a former pit village have been asked to down tools and not eat produce from their plots because of contamination fears.

Plot holders on West Cornforth's Thrislington allotments have been urged to leave crops in the ground because traces of potentially harmful chemicals were discovered during routine soil sampling.

Landowner Durham County Council is asking allotment holders to treat the plot as a no-go area while further tests are carried out.

The council will lay pathways so gardeners and pigeon fanciers, who need to tend to birds and plants, can do so without walking on the soil.

But all other activities must stop immediately until the test results are completed.

Allotment holders have been advised not to eat vegetables, eggs or livestock from the site, to keep children away, not to cut flowers and avoid disturbing or touching soil.

The discovery of low-levels of potentially harmful substances was made after the council carried out soil tests and assessed the results.

The findings triggered a call from Defra, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for more detailed tests by external specialists at the 2.5-acre allotment site, next to Station Road.

The allotments were created after the colliery was reclaimed in 1972 and layers of sub-soil and topsoil were laid over colliery spoil.

County council reclamation manager David Wilkinson said: "We have written to all 25 allotment holders explaining the situation and offering them each a disturbance payment of £50 to compensate for the loss of their vegetable crops.

"The substances found during our initial tests were consistent with the site's former use as a colliery.

"We have shared our findings and discussed the situation with the primary care trust, the Health Protection Agency, and the environmental health officers at Sedgefield Borough Council, who have all agreed with the precautionary measures we are taking.

"The allotments have been in constant use for more than 30 years without causing any health concerns and the exhaustive tests may well permit their continued use."