A £400,000 operating theatre was opened in Darlington yesterday by Health Secretary Alan Milburn.

The Darlington MP visited his constituency to open the new ophthalmic theatre at Darlington Memorial Hospital.

It is the ninth theatre at the hospital, and it is hoped it will help South Durham Health Care NHS Trust to reduce waiting lists.

The theatre will be specifically for eye surgery, but the extra capacity will benefit all areas, because of the opportunity for surgeons to carry out an additional 33 operations a week.

Trust chairman Paul Trippett said: "We are totally committed to significantly reducing the length of time people have to wait for surgery.

"We are continuing to meet all national and local targets, but the new theatre will help us reduce our waiting times even further."

Later, Mr Milburn planted his constituency oak in the new family wood being created next to Darlington's South Park, on the old pitch-and-putt site.

He was helped in the task by youngsters from Skerne Park Primary School and members of Darlington Borough Council's countryside team.

The constituency oaks project, which is supported and run by more than 100 partners, encourages MPs to collect acorns from their own parliamentary areas and plant saplings this year.

The youngsters who visited the wood with Mr Milburn planted 300 of the 600 trees to go on the site.

Mr Milburn said: "This is a good community initiative. I hope that the trees thrive in Darlington, so that they can be enjoyed by the town's people for years to come."