A NEW home has been found for the Durham County Show, which was left without a permanent venue in recent years.

The agricultural show will this year be held at a former colliery site in the shadow of the North-East landmark Penshaw Monument.

It is hoped the 370-acre Herrington Country Park, near Shiney Row, will prove a long-term setting for an event which dates from 1841.

The show, run by the Durham County Agricultural Society, was held at Lambton Park, near Chester-le-Street, for 47 years up to 1999.

But in 2000 the society was told the venue would no longer be available as it was earmarked for other uses.

Sunderland City Council stepped in at short notice and offered the society use of the Northern Area Playing Fields, in Washington, for the show of July 2000.

It would have also provided the setting last year but the society was forced to cancel due to the foot-and-mouth crisis. In the aftermath of the disease, the reclaimed Herrington Colliery site may provide the regular home.

This year's event, on the weekend of July 13 and 14, will mark the official opening of the country park.

Keith Hamilton, Sunderland City Council's landscape and reclamation manager, said: "Hosting the Durham County Show is the perfect way to introduce people to Herrington Country Park.

"It's a site which we hope will be enjoyed by families in the area for generations to come. The excellent facilities and environment being created at the park will provide an ideal home for the county show, which has proved a popular annual event in the North-East for more than a Century."

Show secretary Christine Duke said there would be plenty to entertain families beyond those from rural backgrounds.

"There is something for everybody, from trade stands to the shows, from the horses and ponies to the dogs, cats and other pets being displayed in competition."

Any volunteers willing to help out over the show weekend should contact the society, at PO Box 58, Chester-le-Street, DH3 3GB.