A NORTH-EAST rural community was celebrating last night after the announcement of a new call centre development - almost two years to the day after a devastating cement factory closure.

Businesswoman Maureen Stanton said the call centre for On-Net Communications would create 65 jobs.

Her new premises are a former works canteen at Weardale Steel, in Wolsingham, County Durham, and she plans further centres in other Weardale villages, such as Stanhope, and at nearby Tow Law and Alston, in Cumbria.

The new posts come two years after Lafarge Cement dealt the Weardale population a massive blow by announcing the closure of its 37-year-old Eastgate plant with the loss of 147 jobs.

For Mrs Stanton, the £500,000 venture makes sound business sense, relying as it does on the quality of the Weardale workforce.

She already has an impressive list of nationally known clients and has gathered together a small team of staff to prepare the canteen for new computers and the latest communication equipment, to be delivered in a few days' time.

Redevelopment agency One NorthEast is paying for a satellite link while Weardale waits for the high-speed Broadband communication, which is one of seven key projects identified by a task force planning its revival following the job losses and the disaster of the foot-and-mouth epidemic.

Main funding sources are the Small Business Service, County Durham Development Company and Wear Valley District Council.

Mrs Stanton said: "My business is based on quality, both of the people who work here and the service we offer.

"The latest industry reports say it may be cheaper to take your calls to places like Bangalore, in India. But, in terms of service provided, British centres are what people are coming back to.

"At the same time I expect far less wastage.

"People can work from home if they want, and we are aiming for a sense of community.

"Big centres suffer from people moving from one to another, but I am confident that people will stay because they like working here."