PARISH councillors at the centre of a land dispute are to take their claims to the Land Registry.

Dene Valley Parish Council says it now has a strong case to reclaim a former recreation ground in Auckland Park after the Charity Commission agreed to make it trustees of the land.

But half of the site is being developed by Miller Homes which also claims a legal right to it. The ownership of the land has been a longstanding dispute with years of research undertaken by the council to search for original deeds.

Now it has papers to show that the land, near William Street, was a popular recreation area in the 1930s and 1940s and was originally bought by the village colliery's welfare scheme for recreational purposes only.

It was left in trust to the residents but in recent years has had no play equipment.

Two years ago, the Land Registry accepted a claim of squatter's rights over the land and registered it to a private individual without, the parish council says, consulting the parish or Wear Valley District Council.

The district council later granted planning permission for 40 houses and Miller Homes, which purchased it recently, has already started work on the site.

Parish councillor Chris Foote Wood has vowed that the parish council will once again resurrect the park and has urged Miller Homes to talk to the council so that the dispute can be ended amicably.

He said: "We want to avoid any unnecessary costs to anyone involved.

"In particular, I think it would be tragic if innocent people were to buy houses on this site, only to be caught up in a dispute over land ownership not of their making."

Coun Foote Wood said that the council had written several letters to the developer but so far it has refused to talk to them.

He said: "Auckland Park has nothing. It desperately needs a play area, especially with all of this new development going on. Children need somewhere to play.

"I am sure that this can all be resolved quite amicably if Miller Homes would talk to us."

Miller Homes declined to comment when it was contacted by The Northern Echo yesterday.