A REVIVING village community has reclaimed the Paradise it lost to industry more than a century ago.

Environmental campaigner Dr David Bellamy joined the people of Witton Park, near Bishop Auckland, yesterday to celebrate the fulfilment of a 15-year-dream to turn unsightly slag heaps and contaminated waste tips into a landscaped natural playground.

The Regional development agency One NorthEast, in partnership with Wear Valley District Council, invested £2.1m in a four-year reclamation programme to revive the 22-hectare Paradise Cottage site, once occupied by one of Europe's biggest ironworks and more recently used as a dump by British Rail.

Villagers had worked with development agencies on plans for their new park and children from the local St Chad's RC School and Escomb Primary School helped with the design.

Until his death in 1998, the project was driven by a local vicar, the Reverend Nick Beddow, who saw it as part of a corridor of conservation stretching along the edge of his parish on the banks of the River Wear.

The present generation of schoolchildren marked the opening by sowing seeds to help establish a wildflower meadow and butterfly area.

There is already woodland, a grass patch which can be used as a showground or for sports, informal footpaths, lakes and wetland areas.

Future plans include establishing a Local Nature Reserve around ponds next to the river and creating an educational nature walk.

Dr Bellamy said: "A tip heap turns into a paradise for wild flowers, butterflies and wildlife. Well done Wear Valley District Council."

Christine Smith a board member for One NorthEast, said: "The site is in a beautiful valley and the transformation has enabled it to complement the surroundings and provide the village with a useful community facility."

Bob Hope, the council's director of regeneration, said: "It has taken a considerable time to deliver this project, mainly due to the complexities of the beast. However, without doubt, it has been well worth waiting for."

Consulting engineers Atkins, of Newcastle, oversaw the project and works were carried out by John Hellens (Contracts) Ltd.