VILLAGERS will be able to get closer to nature, following a £20,000 fundraising campaign.

The money has paid for new paths, bridges, a wildflower meadow, a wetland scrape and a pond dipping platform at Witton Dene wildlife reserve, Witton Gilbert.

The cash has come from the BBC’s Breathing Spaces scheme, the SITA Trust which supports environmental schemes and the Flourishing Communities Fund.

Residents set up a Friends group to help improve the wetland.

Councillor Bob Young, Durham County Council cabinet member for strategic environment and leisure, said: "Thanks to the great fundraising efforts of this group, residents of all ages and a host of wildlife are now benefiting from a local place of beauty that caters for all their needs.

"This is a perfect example of how the council can help communities develop and manage projects that really matter at grassroots level."

Jonathan Elmer, the council’s sustainability manager, said: "It is really important that local people feel the finished woodland project reflects what they wanted and this is something we feel strongly about all over County Durham.

"One of our key aims is to help support residents’ groups so that they can feel a sense of ownership of their green spaces."