WORK will start soon on building 350 homes in a project that will see a greenfield and brownfield site transformed.

The development will be next to the site of the former rundown 1960s Courts estate, Redcar, east Cleveland, where 270 flats have now been demolished.

Private developers Persimmon Homes and Bellway will provide 250 properties for sale, along with commercial and retail units on the site.

Meanwhile, Tees Valley Housing Group is investing nearly £2m in the development and will construct 100 two, three and four-bed properties for rent, including a mixture of houses, bungalows and apartments, and wheelchair-friendly homes.

A library and youth and community centre will also be built, together with a pub, supermarket, four shops and a dentists' surgery.

The development is expected to be completed by 2007.

People living in the area have had mixed feelings about the development.

Most were delighted to see the flats on the former Court estate demolished because it got rid of drug dens.

But some were worried about the loss of open space, which they said would leave nowhere for children to play.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's planning committee unanimously passed an application for the development last year.