PLANS to redevelop a former hotel and nursing home at the site of County Durham's largest Roman fort have been welcomed by councillors.

Wear Valley District Council has given the go-ahead to the conversion and redevelopment of Binchester Hall, near Bishop Auckland, saying it will enhance a popular tourist attraction.

The chairman of the council's development control committee, Councillor Barbara Laurie, said that the scheme is good news for the Binchester Roman Fort, which is an important part of the region's heritage.

She said: "It is a site that really needs redeveloping and the plans look quite excellent.

"It is keeping the best of the existing structure and getting rid of the bits that have just grown around it over the years. They are being replaced by five fine looking dwellings."

Coun Laurie said that the development would also create additional car parking spaces and services for the Roman fort.

She said: "It is a good package as far as I am concerned and it looks very promising.

"That building has been empty for quite some time and it was in danger of becoming an eyesore.

"It is good that it is going to be redeveloped."

In a report given to councillors, planning officers stated that the original hall had become almost unrecognisable over the years, following the introduction of a number of unsympathetic and incongruous extensions in the 1960s and 1970s.

They said that the development, which would see the main house made into two homes, was sympathetic with the original 19th Century building and would enhance the setting of the hall and entrance to the Roman fort's visitor centre.

The council requested that the developers worked closely with the county archaeologist and the University of Durham archaeological services when designing the scheme so it did not detract from the fort, which attracts visitors from all over the country as well as individual schools throughout County Durham.

The fort was built by the Romans to guard the point where Dere Street crossed the Wear.

Most of the fort and the remains of the nearby civilian settlement still lie buried in the remaining fields.