SIGNS that a £50,000 regeneration programme is finally under way should start appearing in a village from to-day.

Following years of decline, the cash has been secured for Ushaw Moor and the surrounding area as part of the Lower Deerness Valley Settlement Renewal Initiative.

Funded by Durham County Council, Durham City Council and the Government's Single Regeneration Budget (SRB), the scheme has already involved the rerouting of electricity and telephone cables underground.

Now, in the second phase of work to improve Ushaw Moor's appearance, the junction of Whitehouse Lane, Broom Lane and Station Road is being repaved.

New railings and bollards are also being put outside the Winnings public house, and new lighting and street furniture installed.

Councillor Bill Firby, the county council's representative for Deerness Valley, said residents would finally start seeing the first signs of major improvements.

"People have been waiting for years for some sort of upgrading to the crossroads," he said.

"This latest phase of work will make a great improvement and give it a very smart appearance.

"It will help put the heart back into the middle of Ushaw Moor."

The work, which will take about three weeks, will be followed by other schemes to bring about more radical regeneration.

By the end of the year, it is hoped that 150 private homes will have been built, and plans are under way to convert an empty building into a youth centre.

The old Station Hotel and nearby houses are to be demolished and the area landscaped.

All the improvements are linked with a £900,000 SRB grant awarded to Ushaw Moor, Broom Park, New Brancepeth and Bearpark over five years.

Coun Firby said the transformation would be dramatic.

"It will be a total revamp of the village," he said.

He added that local people were fully behind it.

"There were full consultations about this, and we have a forum every month for people to give their views.

"People are 100 per cent behind what's happening."