OF all the phenomena threatening some of the North-East and North Yorkshire's famous landmarks, one stands out as particularly unsavoury.

For the most famous landmark of all, the Tyne Bridge, which is being given a facelift, has been corroded by the build-up of ten years of bird droppings and animal corpses.

So much so that £45,000 of tax-payers money is to be spent on installing wire meshing to prevent birds from reinhabiting the bridge.

Considering that the average bird deposits 14kg of droppings every year, most tax-payers in Newcastle and Gateshead probably will not begrudge the cash being spent.

But the Tyne Bridge is not the only famous landmark with serious problems.

The most seriously troubled is the 900-year-old Durham Castle, which experts estimate needs between £3m and £4m spent on restoration work.

The castle has been placed on English Heritage's "At Risk" register as a result of decay to its sandstone.

Management at the Grade I listed building have struggled to raise that cash. Yesterday, a spokesman reiterated a plea for help to save the World Heritage Site.

Staff at the neighbouring Durham Cathedral constantly have to find money for to fund never-ending renovation work, made necessary as soft sandstone is battered by the North-East weather.

A tower was closed in recent years and renovation work is currently on-going at the Nine Altars Chapel. Structural improvements to the north and west towers are planned in the future.

An altogether more modern landmark lasted for a much shorter period than the cathedral before structural restoration was needed.

The Transporter Bridge, Teesside, thankfully now repaired, had to be closed for two years while cracks to the bridge itself and broken rails which supported the passenger gondolier were repaired.

An estimated 100,000 motorists and 30,000 pedestrians a year were unable to use the historically-important bridge at all until last year.

Another major problem is caused by the 180,000 tourists annually who tramp up and down Whitby's famous 199 church steps.

Church wardens have threatening to close them unless they receive council money for their upkeep.

Given all that, perhaps the makers of the North-East's latest outstanding public work of art, the decidedly rusty-looking Angel of the North, were simply being wise when they maintained that its life would remain, strictly, limited