A MILLENNIUM project which took five years to come to fruition has been unveiled.

Former Conservative Party leader William Hague MP lau nched the Millennium Fountain and Memorial Garden in the Applegarth, Northallerton, on Saturday.

The unveiling marked the culmination of five years work by the Northallerton and District Millennium Committee to develop the Applegarth into an attractive outdoor area for the local community.

Planning covenants to restrict development and safeguard the land meant the committee had difficulty creating the outdoor area.

However, it has now been completed with landscaping, planting and a memorial fountain made up of a granite ball set on a millstone surrounded by Yorkshire flagstones.

Committee chairman Cynthia Peacock said she was delighted the project was now finished and thanked everybody who had helped.

She said: "It has been a long time, and we've had to go down a lot of different alleyways. But it is looking really good and we've had a lot of nice comments about it.

"Within a couple of days of being put in, the benches were being used by local people.

"We hope to do future enhancement and work at the area, but we're glad we've got the first piece of hard landscaping in.

"William Hague's been very supportive and for quite a few months has been making enquiries about it."

The area has been dedicated to the memory of former committee members Tom Umpleby and Nancie McDougal and Patricia Reeve, a member of the town's Lioness club.