CONTROVERSIAL Wallsend cross country course Burn Close - labelled dangerous last year - was given a massive thumbs-up by mud-spattered athletes at the second North Eastern Harrier League meeting on Saturday.

Twelve months earlier, after torrential rain, Commonwealth Games marathon international Ieuan Ellis had warned that runners could break a leg on the treacherous surface.

But while there were plenty of spills, particularly on the downhill sections, Great Britain international Stewart Bell described the gruelling circuit as "a real cross country course."

Bell, who has spent over a year getting over a back injury, had no fears for his safety as he worked his way through the 200-strong field in the 5-mile handicap event to record the fastest time.

Aware of the controversy last year, Bell said: "I don't think there is anything wrong with the course.

"A lot of people today are used to running round football fields in cross country races.

"But this was a proper cross country course - they are meant to be tough and meant to be hard."

The only problem Bell had was re-acclimatising himself to the North-East weather after a week in Bahrain, where he helped a UK team win a prestigious international relay race, coming within one second of the course record.

The run satisfied the 34-year-old Chester-le-Street runner that his injury problems, which were aggravated in last year's London Marathon, are well and truly over.

He said: "I have had ten weeks good, solid training and there has been nothing amiss. I fell really happy in myself.

"Now I just need to pick up the tempo without doing anything spectacular."

Bell, who was North-Eastern Harrier League senior men's champion for four years in succession up to 1998, beatMorpeth's Daniel Flint - a previous winner at Burn Close - by 11 seconds.

With the North Yorkshire and South Durham Harrier League fixture at Thirsk cancelled there were several guest runners from the south of the area, including Great Britain duathlon international Paul Lowe, who was third fastest.

Another NYSD regular, reigning veterans' champion Ian Cook, also enjoyed his run, though he was just beaten by Wallsend over-40 Paul Merrison, finishing two seconds behind.

The race was won by medium pack runner Mark Brown, of Morpeth, who took full advantage of his 2 minutes start to win by 26 seconds.

Newly-crowned British Veterans Cross Country champion Sheila Allen had to be satisfied with second place behind North-East and Northern 800m track champion Bev Blakeman, of Sunderland, 17 years her junior.

Allen said: "When the course is very wet it can be tricky - I fell a couple of years ago. But it is nothing compared to some of the fell racing courses I've been on."

Allen, who led England to victory in the previous week's Home Countries Cross Country International in Falkirk, lost ground to Blakeman on the opening lap and was unable to catch her fellow Wearsider, who won by five seconds.

* North-East athletes filled both runner-up places in the Brampton-Carlisle ten-mile road race.

Durham City Harrier Rob Hand (50 mins 39 secs) was close behind Border's Mike Scott (50.26), while new Chester-le-Street recruit Morag McDonnell (57.18) was also second in the women's race