AN EPIC campaign to get a safe footpath from Neasham to Hurworth is nearing success.

A £100,000 scheme to put in a metalled path along a dangerous stretch of the Teesdale Way is being prepared for the approval of Darlington Borough Council cabinet members next month.

Once constructed, the 1.8m-wide path will bridge an 800m gap, enabling walkers and cyclists to keep off a particularly busy road.

Coun John Weighell, chairman of Neasham Parish Council, was jubilant when he told Monday's meeting: "This is the best news I have ever have had to give you.

"John Buxton the borough's director of development and environment has said the scheme is going ahead and hopefully will be completed by October.

"I have been on the council for 18 years and we were trying to get this footpath long before then.

"All the time we seem to have taken one step forward and two back. Touch wood, we have got there this time."

"I am really looking forward to the official opening ceremony - we will have to have one because we can't let this go unnoticed."

Hurworth councillor Rod Burtt said: "I want to congratulate everyone who has been involved. This is a village triumph.

"The people who did all the work , all those years - and some may be forgotten names - should get the credit."

Coun Peter Foster added: " We should get two people, one from each village, to meet in the middle."

Mr Buxton told the D&S Times that Castlebeck Care had pledged £25,000 towards a footpath to Hurworth when it received planning permission for a residential home for autistic adults at Newbus Grange.

"We were going to have to fund half of that, so we thought we really should see if we could get the money to do the whole path, instead of having a long-running negative campaign.

"It will cost roughly £100,000 but it depends on how much we buy the land for. I am fairly confident it will be approved and we hope to have it completed in time for the opening of Newbus Grange in the early autumn."

Coun Nick Wallis, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "I know this footpath will make a real difference to road safety for the residents of Hurworth and Neasham who have to make this difficult journey along the road."