A £24,000 mountain bike course was unveiled yesterday as it hosted a competition.

The 4X course, at Hamsterley, which has taken nearly a year to build, hosted the regional championships over the weekend.

About 100 riders from across the UK competed on the course that allows four bikers at a time to compete over a 450-metre route.

The course was built by Descend Hamsterley, a forest franchise led by Craig Hunter from Sunderland, and Robert Boyd, from Newton Aycliffe, which was set up three years ago in an agreement with the Forestry Commission.

Funding has come from Defra, BTCV, New Entrepreneur Scholarship, Glaxo and local businesses.