CAMPAIGNERS who opposed the demolition of a former primary school have welcomed the decision to replace it with a housing development.

News that the building, in Thornhill Gardens, Shildon, was to be pulled down brought calls for it to be retained for the town's young people.

Some people felt it was the ideal location for a youth centre or alcohol-free pub.

But Sedgefield Borough Council said the premises, which flourished as an enterprise centre in the 1980s, would cost £467,000 to bring up to modern standards.

Now, more than a year after its demolition, the council has sold the vacant site to Broseley Homes for housing.

Councillor Ina Smith, who led the campaign to keep the school building, said she was happy the site would be used for housing.

She said: "Shildon needs a larger choice of housing and this is a nice residential area. There is a lot of terraced housing in the town and young families are having to move out of the area to find houses with gardens.''

Coun Smith said she still felt the old school would have made a good drop-in for youths.

She said: "It was a beautiful building and there were a lot of rooms there that would have been good for different activities. However, I accept it would have been difficult to find a buyer who would develop it because of the costs involved.''

Plans to build 16 houses on the site were approved at a recent meeting of Sedgefield Borough Council's development control committee.

The estate will consist of one four-bedroom detached house and two two-bedroom semi-detached houses, with the remainder three-bedroom semi-detached homes.

It is estimated that building work on the homes could begin next spring if detailed plans are approved by the council, but it is believed that plot sales could begin as early as next month.