A £5M conference centre has opened with help from a regional law firm.

The Xcel Centre, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, opened after three years in development.

It has a capacity of more than 1,000 people, and includes exhibition space and a nursery.

The development has been driven by the Xcel Church, which grew from a small congregation 40 years ago, meeting in a small hall in Newton Aycliffe, into an organisation able to manage and run the venue.

Sintons, in Newcastle, has helped to oversee the project, advising the client on land purchase, financing, construction and leasing some of its facilities.

Stewart Brown and Kerina Clark, from Xcel, have driven the project from the outset.

Centre manager Ms Clark said: “The church attracts people from all over the region. The facilities feed off each other well – we have already hosted a charity dinner for 250 people, have got our first major exhibitions booked and are now looking forward to our official opening in March.”

Sarah King, associate in Sintons’ commercial property department, led the property aspects of the deal.

She said: “It is a unique facility and has been achieved at a difficult time for securing funding on a project of this size.”