A TRIO of special people have set the seal on a milestone for a Darlington doctors' practice.

The unique threesome did the honours for the official opening of Blacketts Medical Practice - formerly Netherlaw Surgery - on Wednesday evening.

Queenie Griffiths, Jamie Crook and Beryl Grant teamed up to cut a celebration cake at the £2m practice on the site of the former Blacketts pub.

At 102, Mrs Griffiths is the surgery's oldest patient; Jamie, born on the day the practice moved on November 1, is the youngest; and Mrs Grant is the longest-serving staff member at 27 years.

They were joined by nearly 70 other guests who included former partners in the practice; former employees, health professionals; district nurses; health visitors and builders, architects and others who worked on creating the new surgery.

Artists commissioned for special features within the building were also present.

Dr Andrew Michie, one of six doctors based at Blacketts, said the occasion was 'a bit of a baptism.'

"We have got over most of the minor snags we encountered at first and are now fully functional," he said.

"The new building is very much living up to our expectations and we are starting to see the full potential of it."

Mrs Griffiths was named Queenie because she was born on the day of the coronation in 1902 of Edward VII.

She became a patient at the Netherlaw surgery at Stanhope Road in 1928.

"I feel honoured to have been asked to help open the new surgery," she said. "I think it is a good move."

Well-known by all the staff and doctors, Mrs Griffiths says she feels fine - apart from a broken hip.

And she revealed that four years ago, a surgeon at the Memorial Hospital agreed to perform an operation for an ulcer because she looked 78!

Young Jamie is the first baby for Kathryn and Ian Crook, visiting the new practice for the first time.

At 22, Mrs Crook has been a patient at the surgery all her life, following on her from her parents and grandparents.

She said it was a real privilege for Jamie to be asked to take part in the ceremony, even though he slept all the way through it.

There were mixed feelings for Mrs Grant, now a practice secretary.

"I had a soft spot for the Netherlaw," she said, "but this is a big improvement. The facilities are much better. I suppose we just outgrew the old building."

With more than 8,000 patients on the books, the purpose-built Blacketts provides facilities for specialist support staff as well as physiotherapists, podiatrists, health visitors and community nurses.

Various organisations are making inquiries as to how they could make use of the clinical space and an audiologist is being brought in.

There is also a special referrals suite which can be used by police working on sex cases.

The building work was done by Darlington firm Blackburn and Marshall Construction.