A HOUSING development blamed for damaging a town's industrial heritage is proving a big success.

North-East housebuilder Barratt is building an estate on the site of the former steel works in Berry Edge, Consett, County Durham.

It has spent £2.8m cleaning up the site and construction work has not yet started, but the first phase of the development has already sold out.

Barratt field sales manager Dawn Mordue said: "The early sales figures indicate this development is going to be a prime example of successful regeneration.

"We have the experience and skills to exploit brownfield opportunities and to overcome technical and environmental challenges, meaning we can often make land work where others cannot, such as here at Berry Edge."

The steelworks closed in 1980,with the loss of 3,700 jobs and the site has been derelict since.

"We are turning land which has been disused for many years into much-needed homes for generations to come - and helping breathe life back into Consett," she said.

The developer came under fire from residents earlier this month after it cut up one of the last remnants of the works still on site - a giant crucible used in the smelting process.

Former steelworkers were outraged, but Barratt said it had to move the crucible to decontaminate the land. Hiring a crane to move it would have cost about £220,000.

The company has agreed to clean and mount the site's smaller remaining crucible, at a cost of more than £20,000.