A REGENERATION chief has toured a £27m scheme to replace Durham’s former ice rink with offices.

Andy Rose, chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), paid a visit to check on the progress of the Riverside Renewal Project.

The former home of the Durham Wasps ice hockey team, the site on the banks of the River Wear in Durham City had been idle since a bowling alley closed in 2009.

Building is now well advanced on a new Freeman’s Reach office development which will house around 400 National Savings and Investments workers when they move across the river from Milburngate House early next year.

Stage two will house the relocated Passport Office, also currently across the river. More than 900 workers are expected to move in 2016.

The HCA is part of the project and Mr Rose was given a tour of the building site, including a recently installed Archimedean screw, which will harness the power of the Wear to provide electricity for the development.

He said: “Freeman’s Reach is on course to provide significant local employment opportunities as well as improving the quality of the riverside.”

Mr Rose’s visit follows that of HCA chairman Robert Napier last September.