HUNDREDS of acres of County Durham farmland could be turned into woodland.

A five-year scheme costing about £5m is being drawn up to plant trees on former coalfield sites.

Durham County Council has less woodland than the national average and organisations behind the scheme are seeking Heritage Lottery Fund cash to redress the balance.

The planting of native broadleaf species would be carried out by the council on 624 acres in Teesdale, Wear Valley, Derwentside, Durham City and Chester-le-Street.

A bid of £1.5m has won approval in principle from the Heritage Lottery Fund and detailed plans are being prepared.

The council is working with English Heritage, district councils and organisations including Groundwork Trust and the Forestry Commission.

Durham County Council's countryside officer, Mike Lowe, said the woodland and wildlife project was the main component of a number of schemes being drawn up under the umbrella of English Nature.

"The thrust of the project is that the county council acquired a lot of land with the colliery site reclamation programme of the 1960s and 1970s.

A lot of it was reclaimed as agricultural land and we are thinking that in many cases it would be suitable for woodland and recreation for the public.

"County Durham has less than the national average of woodland and plan to double the amount it has as part of the environmental strategy to improve its attractiveness to visitors and residents.

"Apart from utilising council land we would like to create footpath links to make a bigger footpath network. There will be nature and conservation uses alongside.''

There are also plans to improve the Weardale Way footpath from Sunderland to Weardale.