VILLAGERS gathered to boost their campaign for funding to build a play park for their community.

More than 200 residents in the parish of Esh, near Durham, held a celebration event to highlight the work of the Put the Park into Langley Park campaign.

The group, an offshoot of the Equal Community Partnership, which takes in the villages of Esh, Quebec, Ushaw Moor and Langley Park, is hoping to raise about £150,000 to create first-class play facilities.

It aims to create a large play area in Langley Park - which has not had a children's playground for a decade - and replace outdated equipment at smaller sites in Esh and Quebec.

Campaigner Ken Bradshaw, 43, said: "There is a lot of will in the parish for this to happen.

"We started out planning a little play area, but soon realised that people want something a lot more substantial."

Langley Park Cricket Club has pledged a piece of land at a peppercorn rate and aims to submit a joint funding bid to Sport England, in a project that would also replace the club's ailing perimeter fence.

The campaigners are also in talks with Derwentside District Council, with a view to incorporating the adjacent former play area site, creating a park larger than a football field.

The group's ambition is to fill it with two play areas for infants and older children, plus a multi-purpose sports area for activities such as five-a-side football and basketball. If there is enough funding, organisers also aim to include a skate park.

The group employed a team of consultants to work with young people to find out what sort of park they wanted, after winning £3,500 from the Community Project Development Fund.

It ran a competition in three schools - Langley Park Primary, Esh C of E and Laude RC School - where pupils were asked for ideas.

Their designs were displayed at the celebration day, held in All Saints Youth Centre, Langley Park, on Saturday. The event also raised £400 for the park fund.

The group is hoping to emulate the success of Lanchester Parklife, which spent four years raising £145,000 for the Park House play area in Lanchester. It opened last May.