DURHAM Cathedral and its nearby castle are among the most popular landmarks among people who voted for places to include in the county’s edition of Monopoly.

Winning Moves UK, makers of localised versions of the ever-popular board game, received more than 200 suggestions for places to be included in more than 30 spaces.

More than 2,000 people voted for the favourites and the two World Heritage Site attractions emerged as front-runners for key sites on the board.

Other well-supported places were The Bowes Museum, near Barnard Castle, and the Riverside Stadium in Chester-le-Street, home of the county cricket champions, Durham.

The Northern Echo is set to feature in the County Durham game, which is due to be available for the Christmas market.

‘’The Echo fared very well in the voting,’’ said Winning Moves spokesman Graham Barnes. ‘’Some said the paper should be on a Community Chest space to reflect the big part the paper plays in the community.

‘’Others said Fleet Street. Would be appropriate bearing in mind the paper’s long history in the county.’’ Voting ended last night (tghursAp30) and the company will now decide over the next few weeks how each space on the board will be filled.

It seems likely that Durham Cathedral will be allocated the prestigious Mayfair slot, the most expensive property on the British version of the game.

The company has previously produced Sunderland, Newcastle and Middlesbrough editions.

‘’We have had very few, if any, suggestions for the places to fill The Old Kent Road space, the budget slot. We are asking if the county is to beautiful to have one.’’ The County Durham versions will cost #24.99 and will be available from October in shops such as W H Smith, Borders, Waterstones and Tesco.