RESIDENTS are celebrating after winning a long-running battle for a puffin crossing on a busy road.

Campaigners have been fighting for more than a decade to have a crossing on the busy A693 Chester Road in Stanley.

Durham County Council has always refused to pay for the £60,000 crossing, saying that it was not a priority road. But County Hall has agreed in principle to put up half the funding, after Derwentside District Council offered to match it.

District ward councillor Janet Greener, who lives in nearby Shakespeare Street, said: "We are very pleased that something is finally going to go up on that road, we have had a long wait. There have been several accidents there, including one a few years ago when a child was killed. It was a terrible thing and should never have happened."

The district council was able to put up half the money after the sale of the nearby former greyhound stadium, Murray Park. The site is to be redeveloped as housing.

District council leader Councillor Alex Watson said: "Had we not been successful marketing the Murray Park site, we would have struggled to find the money.

"We are reinvesting and putting it back into Stanley to give residents something that they have been crying out for."

The district council has yet to formally agree the funding, but Coun Watson said he did not foresee any difficulties.

A large amount of housing that leads directly on to Chester Road is bungalows, that are mainly occupied by pensioners.

"It is a very dangerous stretch and is absolutely terrible, especially at rush hour," said Coun Greener.

"There are a lot of older people who live in the bungalows and they find crossing the road very difficult. This will make a big difference for them."

A county council spokes-man said that the authority would not comment until the district council had officially confirmed its offer.