NEW craft workshops created as part of Durham City's £30m Millennium City development will be officially opened next Friday.

The ceremony at the Fowlers Yard complex will be performed by the city's Liberal Democrat Mayor Ray Gibbon and North-East Labour Euro-MP Stephen Hughes.

The historic group of buildings overlooking the River Wear have been refurbished to provide seven workspaces for professional artists, craftspeople and creative businesses. The workspaces are open to the public so visitors can meet the artists and see them at work.

The site is home to hot glass arts, embroidery and costume-making, a painter, metal work, textile arts, photography and a micro brewery. One of the workshops has been left vacant and will offer a regular programme of exhibitions, workshops, classes and artist residencies.

Fowlers Yard is managed by Durham City Arts and was developed by Durham City Council with funding from the Millennium Commission, the European Regional Development Fund.