ANGRY villagers were dismayed to see a council "For Sale" sign go up on land where they wanted to garage their community bus.

Members of a community transport project in the Dene Valley, near Bishop Auckland, say they had a verbal agreement with Durham County Council over the small patch of wasteland beside the Valley Methodist Chapel, in Coundon Grange.

The group wanted to build a garage for their minibus and use the rest of the land as a playground for a toddlers' group.

Councillor Margaret Ingledew, who represents Coundon Grange on Wear Valley District Council and helps to run the transport scheme, said: "The land has been derelict for 20 years and we wrote to the Land Registry about it in March.

"We approached Durham County Council to ask if we could take it over as nobody else wanted it. We were more or less told we could have it as long as we paid planning and legal fees amounting to £600.

"When the sale sign went up on Friday I was shocked. The council wouldn't have known about this land if we hadn't brought it to their attention and now they want to make money out of it.

"It is just a patch of wasteland but now they are saying it is fit for residential use."

But a council spokesman revealed that a property developer had also expressed interest in the land.

He said: "If we are disposing of surplus land it is our legal obligation to get the best possible price we can, and the way to do it is to offer it for development. We were approached by another interested party at about the same time as the community transport group, although they are no longer interested. If we don't have any other offers or expressions of interest we will go back and have more talks with the group."