A BID to allow building on allotments in a County Durham village has been called in by the Deputy Prime Minister's office.

Sacriston Parish Council has applied for outline planning permission to build homes at Cross Lane Allotments, in the village near Durham.

But the plans have been called in by John Prescott's Office and are to be the subject of a public inquiry.

The council said that only three of about 20 allotment sites are cultivated, and that the rest are overgrown and are attracting rubbish. But plans to sell the land for housing has met with objections from some residents.

Sacriston parish clerk Colin Turnbull said: "It is overgrown with weeds and it is getting used as a dumping ground by people and, being only a small parish council, the parish does not have enough funds to tidy the place.

"We thought we could sell them to a developer and get some outline planning approval to increase the cost of the land. It would be up to the developer to decide, but I imagine you could get somewhere in the region of 15 to 18 properties."