A HOUSING development blamed for damaging a town's industrial heritage is proving a big success.

North-East housebuilder Barratt is building an estate on the site of the former steelworks at Berry Edge, Consett.

The firm has spent £2.8m cleaning up the brownfield site and construction work has not yet started, but the first phase of the properties released has already sold out.

Barratt field sales manager Dawn Mordue said: "These early sales figures indicate that this development is going to be a prime example of successful regeneration.

"We have the experience and skills to exploit brownfield opportunities and to overcome technical and environmental challenges, meaning we can often make land work where others cannot, such as here at Berry Edge."

The steelworks closed in 1980 and the site has been derelict since. Barratt came under fire from residents earlier this month after it cut up one of the last remnants of the works - a giant crucible used in the smelting process.

Former steelworkers were outraged, but Barratt said it had to move the giant crucible to decontaminate the land. Hiring a crane to move it would have cost around £220,000.

The company has agreed to clean and mount the site's smaller remaining crucible, at a cost of more than £20,000.