A WORN out village street is to undergo environmental work this week.

North Road in Catchgate, near Stanley, County Durham, is a patchwork of different coloured tarmac with potholes, signs in the middle of the pavement and indiscriminate parking.

Durham County Council is to start work today on an improvement scheme next to Hobson's Buildings, which will give the street a new look and make conditions safer for pedestrians.

The £124,500 scheme will include concrete paving, stone coloured setts and robust textured surfacing for parking areas.

Bollards will protect pedestrian and there will be street furniture, including litter bins, selected by the community during consultations in the summer.

A glass bus shelter and bollards to stop parking will be put on the south side of the road.

The work will be carried out by Service Direct, the county council's construction arm, and will take about ten weeks.

It is funded by the County Council's Local Transport Plan and Urban Renaissance budgets, Derwentside District Council, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and local county councillor Michelle Hodgson with support from the Catchgate Partnership.

Council cabinet member for environment, Coun Pendlebury, said: "This part of North Road is showing its age and its condition is not helped by cars parking on kerbs and pavements. This scheme will give the whole place a lift by greatly improving the appearance of the street."