REGENERATION efforts in two rural communities have been given a £900,000 cash boost.

The Craghead Area Partnership, near Stanley, and the Coundon and Leeholme Community Project, near Bishop Auckland, will share the money after being awarded Settlement Renewal Initiative (SRI) status through the Rural Development Programme (RDP) for the county.

Both projects will get £75,000 a year for the next three years from the programme, which was set up to help run-down areas. But they will need to attract matched funding to get the money.

Most of the money will be spent on schemes designed to regenerate the local economy, but community development projects will also be supported.

The two communities are the latest to achieve SRI status. Wingate and Station Town, Cornforth and the Dene Valley have benefited from the assistance previously.

The successful partnerships had to make their cases to a panel drawn from the joint steering committee which runs the RDP for County Durham.

The panel included representatives from OneNorthEast, which is providing the money, Durham County Council, coordinator of the RDP, the Countryside Agency, Durham Rural Community Council, the North-East Chamber of Commerce, Groundwork Trust and district councils not involved in the bid.

Councillor Brian Walker, Durham County Council's representative on the panel, said: "The two rural community partnerships made strong cases based upon the needs of their localities.

"This funding will greatly help support the economic regeneration of these two communities and assist the process of community development in the longer term."

Each partnership will appoint a project coordinator who will work with the community to develop a three-year programme of schemes.