A STUDY on the quality of life in a cluster of north Durham villages has been carried out.

More than 800 residents in six villages, who were involved in the exercise, hope the findings may trigger improvements.

Following mass consultations in Tantobie, Tanfield Village, Sleepy Valley, Clough Dene, White-le-Head and Flint Hill, the results were passed to Derwentside District Council and Durham County Council.

The year-long study revealed common problems, including a lack of facilities for bored youngsters, traffic speeding, and ramshackle bus stops and roads.

Overseen by the Six Villages Steering Group, the study was funded by an £8,000 grant from the Northern Rock Foundation.

Steering group member Rosemary Black said it provided an opportunity to highlight problems in their mainly rural communities.

She said: "We felt the direction of the area was declining through neglect. There was a strong need to improve the quality of life for people in these villages.

"Now the results have come through we've discovered that people are concerned about a number of things.

"These include a total lack of play areas for children in all villages, and environmental things such as litter, poor roads, awful bus shelters and people speeding through our communities.

"We realised that the majority of people love living in these communities. It's just that the quality of life has been deteriorating.

"We're passing the findings on to the powers-that-be - the district and county councils, the Acorn Trust and Groundwork Trust - so they can get to work for us."

Blackhall environmental consultants Chris Cox and Mick Marston compiled the results after group members handed out and collected the questionnaires last February.

Alex Watson, leader of Derwentside District Council, said: "A lot of hard work has gone into this appraisal. Because of cutbacks from central government, there has to be a lot more community involvement."

Tantobie Community Centre will hold an open day for villagers to view the results on Sunday, February 4.

Similar appraisals have also been carried out in Blackhill, Bridgehill, Burnhope, Catchgate and Consett South.