THE draining of a lake in a North-East park is nearing completion.

Specialist equipment has been set up in South Park, Darlington, to remove 400 truckloads of silt to a landfill site over the next two weeks.

The work is part of an ongoing £3.9m project to restore the area.

The Quakers Acres Metal Detecting Club is on site looking for hidden treasures of the lake as they emerge.

So far, they have discovered a Celtic ring. It is thought to be gold, but not valuable.

Other hidden treasures are thought to have been there for more than a century.

Rumour has it that a brass statue of a steam plough erected in honour of its inventor, John Fowler, may lie in the depths of the lake.

It was donated to the park by industrialist Henry Pease, but disappeared in 1979.

Councillor Lee Vasey, cabinet member for leisure at Darlington Borough Council, said: "This is another exciting stage in the restoration of South Park and I would urge people to come along and take a look for themselves at the improvements that are being made."

Items that are found in the lake will be kept by the council to be used as exhibits in the park.