WORK started yesterday on a £1.3m scheme to convert a town's biggest eyesore into 16 luxury apartments with riverside views.

Residents were delighted after scaffolding was put up on the side of the near-derelict Thorngate Mill, overlooking the Tees in Barnard Castle, County Durham.

They have been complaining for years about debris falling from the 156-year-old building.

There were fears that falling masonry could cause danger for people walking past.

Over the next year, the former mill will be transformed to create some of the finest homes in the area.

Doug Christie, managing director of Darlington Homes, a subsidiary of Darlington Building Society, which now owns the mill, said yesterday, "We are quite excited because this is a wonderful project.

"When you stand on the opposite bank of the river and look over the water at this building you realise what a magnificent place it will be to live in. The scenery is quite breathtaking."

The development will include a number of two-bedroomed apartments. Their price is not being revealed at the moment but they are expected to establish a new record for the Teesdale area.

Tommy Davis, site manager for the project, said yesterday that would-be buyers had already called asking for details of the apartments.

The Grade ll-listed building started life as a woollen mill and later manufactured cloth, before it was used for assembling small cars.

More recently, it was used as a leather clothing workshop, a furniture restoration unit and book warehouse.

The warehouse closed because planning consent could not be obtained, mainly due to the lack of a parking area.

Darlington Homes bought the mill from Building Renaissance, of Cumbria, which owned it for several years.