YOUNG people have helped to draw up a blueprint for the regeneration of town and village centres.

A party of seven youngsters from east Durham went on a fact-finding mission to Holland to identify ways to improve urban and rural centres.

Durham County Council plans to enhance up to 46 communities during the next five to six years as part of its urban renaissance programme.

The council will invest about £4m into the programme which, when matched from other funding sources, could see £15m ploughed into the scheme.

But the county council has pledged to work with townsfolk and villagers in each location to ensure any changes are met with approval.

As part of the process, a group of young ambassadors from former colliery communities Wheatley Hill and Seaham went to see how urban regeneration is tackled in Holland.

The youngsters visited the port city of Rotterdam as well as the smaller nearby community of Schiedam to take in features such as road and pavement design, safe storage of bicycles, separating vehicle users from cyclists, building design and use of public space.

They agreed that wide pavement areas, clean and clutter-free town centres and attractive seating areas should be considered when drawing-up designs on this side of the North Sea.

County council chairman Ken Manton, said: "Many of our towns and villages in this county look rather dowdy. They have not changed in appearance since the days of the old collieries and we need to bring them up to the 21st Century, so more people want to live there."