WORK begins this Friday on a long-awaited new community centre for a former mining village.

The building, in Grange Villa, near Chester-le-Street, was made possible when residents secured funding for the £470,000 project after raising £22,000 themselves.

Ann Blewitt, chairman of Grange Villa Enterprises, the group behind the project, said: "We are really excited. We have had a lot of icy cold water thrown on us by people saying it would never happen. But we have worked hard and done it."

The centre will be built on the site of the village's former primary school, which closed more than 30 years ago, when West Pelton Primary School opened.

Since then, the building has been re-used as a youth centre, but it became a frequent target for vandals and was badly damaged by fire in July 2001.

The bulk of the building will be used as a Sure Start centre, providing full day care for 22 pre-school children.

The building is due to be completed in May next year and day care places will be available as soon as the centre is registered with inspection body Ofsted. A brochure on child care provision will be published in the New Year.

The centre will also include a meeting room, play area, two baby clinics, a kitchen and community caf.

The day-to-day running of the centre will be carried out by Grange Villa Community Enterprise Limited.

Thanks to the determination of residents, funding was secured for the new facility, through Sure Start, the European Regional Development Fund, Neighbourhood Nursery Grant.

Further cash came from Durham County Council, which will also act as project manager during the construction phase.

Ward councillor Jim Cordon will man a digger to begin work at the site at 11.30am on Friday.

He said: "This new facility will be a huge boost, not only to the 1,200 residents of Grange Villa, but also to other villages in the area."