VOLUNTEERS have had a welcome cash boost to help them create recreational space in a popular tourist spot.

The Hamsterley Trailblazers have already repaired 800 metres of trails for mountain bike rides at Hamsterley Forest.

Now they are looking to construct a skills area to enable younger riders to learn and develop their expertise.

They also intend to create a nearby family picnic area to attract more visitors to the forest.

They have been helped with their quest by North Eastern and Cumbrian Co-op's community dividend fund which has presented them with £500.

The money will fund a trail-building skills development session and buy the material needed for the development.

Trailblazers chairman Simon Goodwin said: "The hardcore material allows the trails to become hardwearing and usable for the entire year, which is essential to the more sustainable development that we are trying to promote."