NEGLECTED underpasses are to be brought back up to standard in a £60,000 clean-up operation.

A massive regeneration programme which began in Peterlee 18 months ago failed to tackle the town's ten underpasses.

A traditional haunt for vandals, the underpasses have been scrawled with graffiti and had lights broken, leaving local people wary of using them.

After the issue was raised in a recent central forum meeting, Easington District Council asked Durham County Council, which owns the underpasses, about its plans for them.

Now, the county council has offered reassurance that they will remain, and pledged to spend £60,000 on repairing lighting, cleaning, and treating those not already treated with anti-vandal paint.

Dave Roberts, head of operations for the district council, said: "Maintenance was suspended because of major developments like the new Asda, multi-storey car parks and the moving of the law courts.

"At one stage, we weren't even sure if the underpasses would be kept. We are very pleased that the county council has agreed to spend this money.

"It will help towards the overall regeneration of Peterlee, and I think people will use the underpasses more regularly."

The county council's decision follows several years of problems with graffiti, vandalism and anti-social behaviour in underpasses.

At one stage, it was spending £20,000 a year on cleaning and repairing them.

Then in 1998, it decided to apply anti-vandalism paint to all 35 and launched a partnership with Durham Probation Services under which offenders would remove graffiti every two weeks.

It secured £50,000 from County Durham Environmental Trust to pay for cleaning materials.

When the improvements to Peterlee's underpasses have been completed, in May, the offenders' cleaning service will be resumed.

The district council, which is responsible for draining and maintaining them, will continue with this role.

Mr Roberts said: "In the short term, the district will arrange to have the drainage systems jetted and fully cleaned out.

"In the long term, any repairs will be undertaken, and the daily cleansing will be revamped to incorporate drain-age checks."

A meeting to discuss the long-term maintenance of the underpasses is being organised for next week