A NEWTON Aycliffe schoolboy has approached the council with his idea for a skate park.

Mark Easton, ten, is fed up of having to rollerblade on the streets outside his house.

So when Great Aycliffe Town Council asked the public to submit suggestions on what they would like to see in a new town centre park, Mark took up the offer.

His father, Richard, said: "He kept going on about it, so my wife Christina said he should write to the council."

Mark, who attends Woodham Burn Junior School, was invited to a meeting of Great Aycliffe Town Council's recreation committee with his mother and a friend.

Members thanked him for his letter and said that the council is researching the cost of providing a skate park.

A working group has been set up to look at proposals for the former Avenue School site.

A park on the site, currently occupied by football pitches, has been donated to the town council.

The group will look at Mark's idea and have asked him to make a presentation to them