OWNERS of new houses in Darlington have been given approval to extend their gardens.

In 1998, Darlington Borough Council sold part of the former Tees Grange Farm for residential development.

But it kept ownership of the copse of trees next to the site in order to preserve them and ensure that the council's retained land to the north remained screened.

Two residents in Coniscliffe Mews, whose homes back on to the copse, have asked to take over the responsibility for it and to use it as a natural extension to their gardens.

Members of Darlington council's cabinet approved the request yesterday