Part of the region's railway heritage is to be restored to its former glory.

Daniel Adamson's coach house in Shildon, County Durham, is reportedly the oldest surviving example in the world.

The Grade II listed building is used as a community centre.

Sedgefield Borough Council, which owns the Byerley Road building, has allocated £19,600 from its regeneration capital programme to carry out the work.

Barbara Waller, secretary of the Daniel Adamson Coach House Community Association, which leases and runs it, said she was delighted by the news.

She said: "We are excited, because we have had a big hole in one of the ceilings, and things had stopped working.

"It has been horrendous, but we are just over the moon for all those people who have put up with it. I think we will have to have a party."

The work, costing some £26,000, will start on Monday, March 26, and will last for six weeks.

A contribution of £4,000 will come from the Shildon Single Regeneration Budget programme, which is also funding other improvements in the town.

A further £2,400 has been allocated from the borough council's historic buildings grant budget.

Windows that have been bricked up will be reopened, as well as repairs to the roof, timbers and guttering. Outside brickwork will be repointed and the building will be damp-proofed.

Sitting at the junction of Main Street, Auckland Terrace and West Road, the coach house formed a gateway to the town, but, over the years, it has fallen into disrepair, due to lack of funds.

People travel past it every day without realising its significance, and even some of the town's residents do not know of its importance.

It was built in 1831, next to the old Surtees railway line, by Daniel Adamson, a local coal leader and landlord of the Grey Mare Inn - now the Grey Horse.

It acted as both a station and a shed, and passengers were ferried along the line in a horse-drawn coach, to Darlington.

The service ceased in the mid-1830s, when the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company took over.

In the 1980s, the coach house was given Grade II listed status, after plans were revealed to demolish it. Today, it is again an important part of community life