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.