THE world's first giant artificial rock pool is to be built in the North-East.

The tourist attraction, at Hartlepool, will allow visitors to explore specially-designed rock formations for creatures in the North Sea.

Yesterday, Hartlepool Borough Council's regeneration board approved the project, which will be on the town's Headland, between the Heugh Breakwater and Pilot Pier.

A team of environmental scientists, including B Consultants, Plymouth and Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratories, and Nikki Holmes, an environmental artist, are behind the project, which incorporates disabled access and interpretations for foreigners.

The rockpool, measuring 30sq ft, will be positioned between low and high tide, allowing visitors to look at the rock formations for marine wildlife once the tide has gone out.

Guy Rawlinson, the council's senior landscape architect, said: "Although the Headland has natural rock pools at the moment, some people find it difficult to access them and there are no interpretive facilities.

"This scheme is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and the Headland has been identified as an appropriate site due to its geological formation and its wealth of marine wildlife."

The project has received funding from Sciart, which awards grants to schemes combining both science and art, and it is hoped other major funding bodies will contribute.