A FORMER magistrates' court has been turned into a £392,000 housing development.
The Old Court House, in Barnard Castle, has been turned into flats and a cottage by the Three Rivers Housing Association after being unused for three years.
The grade-II listed buildings were originally built to serve as the town's magistrates' court and police station in the mid-19th Century.
In 1977, the police station was moved to Harmire Road, leaving the court, which closed in 1998.
The former court has been transformed into a three-storey block of flats, but the character of the buildings, in Queen Street, has been partly preserved. Some of the cast iron Victorian fireplaces have been retained.
Clare Hepworth, chairman of the Three Rivers Housing Association, said: "We are proud to be part of a development that has contributed to keeping local heritage in a historic town like Barnard Castle."
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