COUNCIL tenants in Teesdale have voted overwhelmingly to transfer their council houses to a new housing association.

In the highest voter turn-out in the region for such a ballot, nearly 90pc of residents voted in favour of the transfer.

The move was welcomed by council officials and tenants' representatives who said it was in the best interest of householders.

Of the 1,037 eligible tenants, 80.5pc returned their papers. Only 98 voted against the transfer, with 733 in favour.

Jan Wilkinson, chairman of the Teesdale Tenants' Forum, said: "There was nothing wrong with what there was before, but we have got to move into the 21st century and this will do that.

"We now will have a constitution which means they have to deliver by law what's in that constitution."

The council houses will be transferred to Teesdale Housing Association which will work with Endeavour Housing Association under the umbrella organisation North Star Housing Group.

Ms Wilkinson said that 65pc of tenants were elderly and initiatives such as HandyVan, which does minor jobs without charge for elderly and disabled people, were what made the proposition attractive.

The housing association will also be able to obtain funds unavailable to the council to enable it to bring the houses up to National Homes Standards.