GARDENERS are hoping to cross their first hurdle today in getting their allotments back from the council.

Hartlepool's Borough Council's cabinet will decide whether to give approval to the £75,000 redevelopment of the Briarfields site after a dispute lasting several years.

Allotment-holders were evicted from their plots in the West Park area of town when the council hoped to sell the land to developers, to help meet budget shortfalls.

However, the Local Government Ombudsman criticised the move and said the gardeners should be reinstated on the site as soon as possible.

With the land allowed to go to waste, the council must pay for it to be brought back to its original state.

Dr Peter Pickens, who had an allotment on the site, said he was pleased to see the issue moving ahead, but that he was unsure it would go to plan.

He said: "I am not counting on anything because we are not there yet.

"There are more hurdles to cross and it has to be agreed by the full council, as well as the cabinet, and money could be a part of the problem.

"I am excited at the thought of getting back on there, though, but the whole thing has been very unnecessary and could have been avoided."

He said gardeners could be back on their plots by early summer.

If approved by the council, the 12 allotments could have a high, steel fence around them, hedging to screen the site, a new water supply and footpaths and secure parking.