A garden designed and developed by mental health patients has been opened at a North-East hospital.

The sculpture garden, in Gateshead's Queen Elizabeth Hospital's Tranwell unit, took more than a year to complete and was a project between patients and Gateshead Health NHS Trust's artist in residence, Neil Canavan.

Following a charitable grant of £50,000 from the Newcastle and North Tyneside Health Authority for arts in health care, patients from the unit worked alongside Neil to plan and develop the garden.

Through a series of workshops, a replica model was created complete with sculptures, aromatic plants and trees, which was turned into a reality by Neil and a team of landscape gardeners.

Designed using fruit as the theme, the garden includes a covered seating area in the shape of a large pineapple, a giant chess board with sculpted figures, a range of stone sculptures as well as herbs and other plants.

Mark Knowles, clinical nurse manager for adult mental health services at the South of Tyne and Wearside Mental Health Trust, said: "The patients have put a great deal of effort into this and it has been a real source of inspiration for them.

"They need somewhere to relax and to get away from things and the garden gives them the opportunity to do this."