Weardale councillors are pressing to join a task force working to regenerate their area following job losses.

The move follows a complaint from regeneration committee members at Wear Valley District Council that they had been excluded from the preparation of a strategy mapping out the dale's future.

Officers compiled the Integrated Rural Development Plan for Weardale, which was welcomed enthusiastically by the committee.

But council leader Olive Brown said she had not been told of the content until it was written.

She said: "We are the people who run this council. We have to make important decisions.

"We are responsible to the public out there. We are custodians of the public purse.

"I will be asking for member representation on the task force because local councillors should be included."

Stanhope councillor Richard Mews said: "There is concern that Weardale councillors have been left in the dark. We should be represented."

Task force chairman John Hamilton said: "As soon as the public have had a chance to comment, we will be reviewing the position and the remit of the task force, along with its membership."

Members are from the council, Durham County Council, One NorthEast and Lafarge Cement UK, which closed its plant at Eastgate a year ago. Councillor John Shuttleworth represents Stanhope Parish Council.