AN ACTION plan is being drawn up to try to reverse the economic decline of South Durham.

The South West Durham Task Force, created in 1999 to tackle unemployment and deprivation in the area, aims to publish its action strategy soon.

Nearly seven per cent of people in the district are unemployed, a third of them aged between 16 and 24, which is much higher than the national average.

The bleak statistics, coupled with concern over recent factory closures and declining eligibility for European funds, prompted the formation of the task force.

A draft action plan for the group is to go before Wear Valley District Council for consideration on Wednesday.

Sedgefield Borough Council, Teesdale District Council and Durham County Council are also involved.

There are fears that projects using European money could be severely curtailed if funding does decrease, and make it more difficult to secure matching funding.

Director of planning at Sedgefield Borough Council, John Litherland, said: "There is a new European programme that has been operating for six years, and that runs until the end of 2006. The question is what will happen after that?

"Within the current programme there are some areas that have lost eligibility for European funding, including parts of Wear Valley and Sedgefield and Fishburn.

"The fear is that in 2006 the European resource will be further stretched through enlargement of the European Union."

Mr Litherland said plans to increase the prosperity of the region included measures to tackle job losses and improve competitiveness, education, training and business skills.

The task force aims to create 700 jobs through providing workspace, develop the tourism potential of the area, improve residential areas and improve routes and transport between the east and the west of the county.

Other ideas that might be adopted in the next five years include completing the West Auckland bypass, creating an industrial site next to the Chilton bypass and introducing a scheme to provide tax relief for new businesses.

The draft plan will be considered by Wear Valley District Council's regeneration committee when it meets at Crook Civic Centre.