A renowned crime-fighting centre in the North-East has been given a quarter of a million pounds cash boost just months after it was threatened with closure.

News of the investment comes days before Harperley Hall, near Crook, County Durham, is due to be taken over by Centrex - the new name of National Police Training.

A leasing deal has been struck which, subject to ministerial approval, should guarantee the centre's future with County Durham and Darlington for at least the next three years.

The outcome of the deal means Harperley Hall, which has a professional staff of 32 supported by a 16-strong catering and domestic team, will get an immediate investment of £250,000 worth of specialist equipment and the promise of backing for the acquisition of leading-edge digital photography.

The future of the facility, dubbed "the murder capital of the north" was thrown into question last summer following talks between the Home Office and Durham Constabulary about moving it to Bedfordshire.

But in January this year Durham Chief Constable George Hedges announced that the jobs of staff at the centre would be safe for the immediate future.

An extra four specialist jobs have been created to underpin international training programmes, which this year the centre will deliver to several African countries, the Middle and Far East, Turkey and the Caribbean.

The centre's director, Peter Ablett, said: "We have come through what has been a very challenging, and on occasions, painful time.

"It has not been easy, but it has been worthwhile. Now it's business as usual and the future is bright."

Following its establishment as the national forensic training centre by the county council's police committee in January 1990, more than 6,500 scenes of crime investigators and other forensic specialists from forces across Britain and Eire have undergone courses at Harperley Hall.