ALMOST £90,000 has been invested in a Darlington estate to improve the area for residents.

Red Hall has been awarded the money to set up a number of projects, including a play area.

Government grants totalling £38,209 from the Single Programme scheme have gone towards six projects, including a play area.

The playground, which is aimed at youngsters aged ten and over, is due to open in the next five weeks. It has been supported by the Children's Fund, which pledged £32,488 towards the project.

The fund worked with Red Hall youngsters to find out what they wanted from the play area and as a result a climbing wall, adventure trail and a skating area will be installed.

At the annual meeting of the Red Hall Partnership, chairman Martin Landers said: "There have been a lot of achievements in the past year. We have achieved registered charity status and we also won a community group of the year award. It is nice to be acknowledged on a town-wide basis.

"We also got £30,000 from the Single Programme for the new play area, which is brilliant"

It is the first full year that the partnership has been operating.

Accounts for the year from April last year to March showed almost £90,000 had been awarded to the estate.

Another project to benefit is the Red Hall Community Association, which will use £4,000 for a creche area and £1,319 for equipment.