A COMMUNITY that battled to raise almost £200,000 for a recreation ground has unveiled its new play area.

Residents in Stanhope joined forces to raise as much money as they could to create the playground after failing to persuade Wear Valley District Council to replace out-of-date equipment.

The council said it could only afford to maintain one playground in Stanhope, next to the river, but it meant that youngsters on the Ashcroft Estate would have to cross a busy main road to get there.

The Ashcroft Play Ground Committee was formed and various fund raising events and grant applications were put into action.

About £26,000 was collected through community efforts such as coffee mornings and stalls, with the rest coming from local authorities and other organisations, including £60,000 from a Living Spaces fund.

Contributors have included Wear Valley District Council, Durham County Council, Barclays Bank, Byzac, County Durham Foundation, Northumbrian Water, Lafarge, the Grey Bull, Stanhope Market Towns Initiative, Stanhope Parish Council and the Weardale Society.

A large chunk of the funding was spent on levelling part of the sloping 1,000sq m site, at the centre of the estate, for an all weather games area and equipment for pre-school and older children has taken up the rest of the space.

The project has been a huge community effort that has involved young people, who helped design it with the help of workshops held by Groundwork West Durham.

On Friday, residents young and old gathered for the official opening in the afternoon.

Trustee Harry Irwin had the honour of declaring the play area open and praised the community for pulling together.

Appeal treasurer Denise Wood said: "We did not expect as many people to turn out for the opening, which goes to show how much this means to everyone.

"There have been ten people on the committee who have worked extremely hard but the community has done its bit by contributing one way or another through buying raffle tickets.

"The play area has been well used since it was completed, which means all the hard work has been worth it."