A BATTLE between two North-East councils, which has cost thousands of pounds in legal fees, was finally brought to a halt yesterday.

Durham County Council and Darlington Borough Council agreed there would be no more legal proceedings after a six-year wrangle, which began following the local government reorganisation of 1997.

Earlier this month, it was thought that Darlington council might take the matter to the Court of Appeal after it failed in its attempt to extract a £1m-plus interest payment from County Hall.

But the authority issued a statement last night saying that both sides had agreed to end the dispute.

The wrangle centred on a contaminated former landfill site, for which neither authority wanted responsibility.

Durham, which owns the site of the former Creebeck waste disposal facility, claimed it belonged to Darlington and was given leave to appeal over a judge's decision to make it responsible for Creebeck and liable for a £1.1m interest payment.

On November 6, a judge at London's High Court agreed that Darlington should not have been awarded the £1.1m by a local government arbitrator and ruled that Durham was responsible for the site.

Councils affected by the local government shake-up were supposed to agree property and liabilities between themselves, but an arbitrator had to be brought in after Durham and Darlington failed to reach a deal. They also rowed about shares in Teesside and Newcastle airports and Durham County Waste Management Company, which the county council was ordered to hand over to Darlington during arbitration.

Councillor John Williams, leader of Darlington council, said the battle had resulted in his authority gaining £13.7m from the county council.

"When you review the outcome of this lengthy dispute, the balance sheet fully justifies the council's decision to fight for what rightly belongs to the people of Darlington," he said.

Darlington claims the county council has spent almost half a million pounds in legal fees - but a spokesman for Durham council said that the cost was still being assessed.

Durham chief executive Kingsley Smith said: "Durham County Council has been totally justified in pursuing these issues.

"We are very pleased to have won the appeal on the question of interest, which will save County Durham tax payers £1.1m."