GREEN-FINGERED volunteers moved in yesterday to provide a horticultural makeover for an elderly couple struggling to maintain their garden.

Valda McRoy, 86, and her 62-year-old daughter, Joan Middlebrook, were having trouble keeping the garden neat and tidy at their home in Shotton Colliery.

Yesterday, Keith Houghton and John Green, of housing association East Durham Homes, and volunteers from disability charity The Shaw Trust moved in to give the garden a spruce up.

The team removed rubbish, cut down trees, trimmed the grass and tidied up the front and rear gardens.

Stuart Wood, estate management manager for East Durham Homes, said: "Keith visited Valda and Joan after noticing during one of his weekly estate walkabouts that the garden was becoming overgrown.

"When they told him they were finding it difficult to maintain it he and John decided to help them out.

"We contacted the Shaw Trust, which provides work and training opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged people, because we've worked in partnership with them before.

"The volunteers are always very enthusiastic and they really enjoy the opportunity to work with us as part of a team - it really seems to help build their confidence."