A NEW course designed to help people trace their family history starts later this month.

The course, run by Durham County Record Office at County Hall in Durham City, begins on Thursday, January 31 and runs for three weeks.

It will help those interested in tracing a family tree, specifically using resources and documents held at the record office.

There will be three sessions, each lasting two hours, starting at 10am with a charge of £20 a person.

Sessions will be led by an archivist. Anyone interested is asked to book a place in advance as courses are popular.

Dawn Layland, education and outreach archivist, with Durham County Council, said: "This is a really good chance, not only to get started on your family tree, but to learn how to use the sources we have here.

"You will find out things like how to locate the microfilm you need as well as learning how to use the information you find from it."

Further three-week courses are planned for later in the year, starting on April 16 at 6pm and April 18 at 10am.

Advance booking is essential, on 03000 267626.