A HERITAGE centre and a community garden were recognised as enhancing the environment in an awards ceremony.

Projects to restore the St Mary-le-Bow Durham Heritage Centre and Museum, and create a community garden at Brandon Allotments were among 17 to be recognised in the 2002 Environment Awards last Thursday.

Now in its 14th year, the Durham County Council competition is the only one of its type in the region, recognising achievement in the built and natural environment.

This year, 39 entries were received in a range of categories, with the judges presenting eight awards, nine commendations and two cash prizes at the ceremony in County Hall, Durham.

The St Mary-le-Bow heritage centre, a former church adjacent to Durham Cathedral, received an award for the repair and repointing of its stonework.

Stonemason Peter Coverdale was given the task of restoring it after the centre secured a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £130,000.

Architect Dennis Jones, who is also a centre trustee, said: "I think it's an excellent job. It's safeguarded the fabric of the building for the museum's use."

Brandon Allotments was recognised in the natural category for its community garden. With help from Groundwork East Durham, local people transformed derelict land into an area for growing organic vegetables and native flowers, to be used by local schools and special needs groups.

They were rewarded for their efforts with a cash prize of £100.

Durham County Council chairman Alan Fenwick said: "This year, the scheme has been very successful, with a very high number of good quality projects both large and small making the judges' job particularly difficult."

Other award and commendation recipients included 16 The Village, Brancepeth; Blackhill and Consett Park, Durham Crematorium and the World Citizenship Project, Durham.