A £640,000 housing scheme for the elderly and disabled is to be opened in Darlington today.

Bob Harrison Court, in Pendleton Road, which consists of six bungalows for the elderly and two for the disabled, is a scheme prompted by the Railway Housing Association and Benefit Fund.

Its management committee decided to name the housing after ex-member Bob Harrison, whose widow Eileen will unveil a plaque and plant a tree.

Mr Harrison, who died in 1997, was born in Trimdon and lived in Middleton St George.

He spent most of his life as a railway signalman in Cleveland and was involved in many organisations set up for the welfare of railway staff and their families.

John Burrows, director of the Railway Housing Association and Benefit Fund, said: "Bob was a member of our management committee for 25 years and that is a lot of service for a voluntary organisation. He was very committed and we felt it was right and proper to recognise that with something in his town."

The scheme has been funded from the association's reserves and a £256,000 Government grant.

It was designed by Darlington architects Anderson-Ellis Partnership and built by Blackburn Marshall Ltd.

The Railway Housing Association and Benefit Fund was founded in the early 20th Century. It provides rented housing all over the country and almost half of its tenants still have a railway connection.