A PROJECT to rebuild Durham Cathedral in Lego bricks to raise £1m has marked its first anniversary with a charity visit.

Since it started a year ago, 80,000 bricks have been placed on the model by members of the public and corporate sponsors.

The North East Autism Society (NEAS) marked the occasion today (Friday, July 11) by bringing service users for a Lego therapy session at the historic visitor attraction.

They worked with bricks donated by an anonymous donor to build the high altar, which was put in place during the birthday celebrations.

Kat Marjoribanks, from NEAS said: "Lego is such a fantastic resource for all sorts of different people and working with it has given the NEAS service users the opportunity to gain valuable life skills such as concentration and team work.

“It is a great opportunity for us all to work in partnership with local projects also using LEGO.”

Representatives from the North East Chamber of Commerce, were also there to celebrate before it adopts Durham Cathedral as one of their charities of the year for 2015.

NECC chief executive James Ramsbotham said: "We are commemorating NECC's 200th year in 2015 and are celebrating all that is great about North-East businesses.

“As part of those celebrations Durham Cathedral features as one of our charities of the year and we are encouraging other large scale local businesses to take ownership of block sections of the Lego Cathedral and become corporate donors to this fantastic project.”

The completed model will include almost 350,000 bricks, spanning 3.84 metres in length, 1.53 metres wide and 1.7 metres in height.

To learn more about the Lego Cathedral, make a donation or watch videos about the project, visit: www.durhamcathedral.co.uk