RESIDENTS of a North-East village turned out in force to defend their community's reputation after it was labelled a "village of hate" in the national Press.

A hundred people packed into the community centre at West Cornforth, in County Durham, yesterday to publicly declare their pride in the former pit community.

Coffee shop owner Linden Parkins, 35, organised the meeting as a show of solidarity in response to local and national media coverage of anti-social behaviour in the area.

She said: "The publicity has been unfair. Most people here are proud of the village and find it a friendly place to live and do not want it to have a bad reputation."

At the centre of the publicity has been resident Mercedes de Dunewic, a mother-of-two, who moved to the area from Bournemouth three years ago.

The 50-year-old told national newspapers she planned to raffle her home in the centre of the village after she was plagued by vandals. She said she logged 180 incidents of crime and disorder targeted at her since she moved in.

Residents yesterday said they could not deny Ms de Dunewic had been a victim or condone the culprits, but many felt she had provoked some incidents.

Mother-of-five Diane Wilkinson, 39, said: "At first, Mercedes was befriending the kids then started threatening them. She wants to bring the village down as research for a book."

Ms de Dunewic, who attended the meeting, said: "I have only ever told the truth. I moved here because I found a beautiful house and never had any idea I would encounter these problems."

Community leaders echoed residents' views, saying the village, which is one of the most deprived in the country, has only a few troublemakers.

Sedgefield borough councillor Alan Hodgson said: "We want to show the world West Cornforth is not a bad place to live.

"Like all villages, we have some trouble, but no one else has suffered the way Mercedes claims and there is so much good work going on in the community to keep improving all of the time."

The Reverend Keith Lumsden said: "There are faults on both sides and we must not ignore criticism that can help us overcome problems.

"But I am proud to be priest in charge of Cornforth because there are so many positive projects and young people working hard for their community."

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