STARGAZERS in the region will be able to view the heavens on their doorstep when a new planetarium opens next week.

The £90,000 building at the Castle Eden Walkway park, Thorpe Thewles, near Stockton, will complement an observatory already at the site.

It has been designed to give visitors a good view of the sky at night, and is expected to attract astronomy enthusiasts from all over the region, as well as local schools.

A concert has been arranged to mark the opening of the 70-seater planetarium on Tuesday evening, when the night sky will fill with the sounds of Angels of the North soprano Suzanah Clark and harpist Kate Wilson, who joined in the fundraising efforts for the building.

Money was raised by Stockton Borough Council and the Cleveland and Darlington Astronomical Society, which organised a number of fundraising events. Financial help also came from the European Regional Development Fund.

The Genk Planetarium, in Belgium, donated a projector to the project, which will allow the staging of spectacular presentations once the building is open to the public.

The building was constructed by trainees from Stockton Council, in partnership with volunteers from the Astronomical Society.

Martin Jenkins, parks and countryside officer for Stockton council, said the planetarium would be a big attraction and praise was due to the volunteers from the Astronomical Society who had worked on the project