ONE of the biggest housing developments in the North-East is to create a lasting tribute to the region's historic railway links.

Bosses behind the West Park scheme on the outskirts of Darlington are planning to name a host of streets on the £60m development after some of the area's railway pioneers.

Addresses will include George Stephenson Drive, Timothy Hackworth Drive, Edward Pease Way and Locomotion Square.

Tony Cooper, director of developers Bussey and Armstrong, said: "It doesn't cost anything to do it, but all too often developers leave it up to the Post Office to come up with names.

"There's such a wealth of railway history here. It's amazing there isn't already a street in Darlington called George Stephenson Drive."

The importance of cattle farmers Charles and Robert Colling in the late 18th Century is also being recognised.

Several streets are being named after the brothers, their farms and individual beasts.

In their heyday, the pair led the Georgian craze of breeding super-large cattle - notably the Ketton Ox and the Comet - at their farm in Ketton, north of Darlington.

As a result, Shorthorn Lane, Catcastle Close, Old Favour-ite's Walk, Ketton Hall Road and Comet's Garth are among the names proposed by world-renowned poet Bill Herbert.

In his proposals for the names, he says that, just as the Pease family was significant in the development of the railways, the Colling brothers were crucial to the accompanying agrarian revolution.

Work on the first 70 houses to go up at West Park is already under way and residents could be in by early next year. The first phase of work on a £20m mental health hospital has also started.

The community will also include the new home of Mowden Park Rugby Club, Alderman Leach School, a pub, shops and parkland.