PLANS have been drawn up to build 65 new houses on the former site of the Stockton to Darlington railway line.

Developers hope to revamp the land - out of use since 1974 after the closure of the historic line - with a cul-de-sac featuring new homes and flats.

The two acre site once hosted a stretch of the world's first passenger rail line, but the land has been empty since the route's demise.

Rail sidings, an embankment and the tracks were all removed and the land was leveled over 30 years ago. A derelict engine shed is all that remains, and the rest of the site is now open fields.

Preston-based developer Salya Homes Ltd has submitted an official planning application for outline permission to Darlington Borough Council.

If approved, the firm will site 19 houses and 46 flats on the brownfield land, which is bordered by Haughton Road and the existing railway line.

Archaeological investigations carried out on behalf of the developers concluded that the only historically significant relic remaining from the days of the railway is the 1847 engine shed.

The planning papers state: "Although the shed is of an early date, it has been extensively modified."

The application, submitted by the agents CA Planning, adds: "The application proposes the development of an attractive residential scheme, which will remove the current eyesore on the site and ensure that the unattractive building and invasive species on the site are permanently removed."

Darlington councillor Eddy Jenkinson, the member for the Central ward, which includes the proposed site, said: "We need to have a proper look at the plans, but at least something is happening there. It is not land that is in use at the moment.

"My thermometer is always the ward surgeries and the people who have spoken to me about this have been very positive.

"The area does need a bit of a lift and people do complain to me that that particular area doesn't get enough investment."