A blacksmith and artist has been given the task of creating a spectacular rural scene, including two life-size stags, for a housing estate.

Brian Russell is using more than six tonnes of steel to build trees and shrubs and the animals in his forge at Little Newsham, near Barnard Castle, County Durham.

They will be erected either side of a gateway to a development of 28 houses and flats on land once owned by the Dukes of Cleveland, in Darlington.

The scene has been designed in honour of the four dukes who lived at Raby Castle, near Staindrop, from 1832, and is to be named after a member of their family, Lady Leconfield.

After the death of the fourth duke, in 1891, the dukedom died out and Raby Castle passed to the ninth Baron Barnard, grandfather of the present Lord Barnard, the eleventh baron.

The land was part of the Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College's playing fields before being bought by Bussey and Armstrong.

Mr Russell studied stags which roam the grounds of Raby Castle and drew sketches of them before starting on the 6ft tall three-dimensional figures, each weighing about six hundredweight.

He said: "I'm sure they will be a really eye-catching feature when they are put in place. I've made stags' heads before but never full animals.

"I always enjoy working on large pieces like this which have an historic connection. I have been busy on them for several weeks and have a few more weeks of work to do."

Tony Cooper, managing director of Bussey and Armstrong, said: "As the Dukes of Cleveland owned the land over a century ago we felt it would be good to have a connection with Raby Castle on the development. Brian Russell has done a lot of brilliant work on our other schemes.

"We wanted a Raby connection in the name, but Cleveland, Barnard, Vane and other family names are already in use in Darlington, so we decided on the lesser-known name of Lady Leconfield."

He said the prices of properties on the estate had not been decided, but large houses would be about £300,000 to £400,000. They will be available from next spring.