THE North-East's own version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is to be straightened, thanks to a £4m National Lottery grant.

Work began on Monday on the first phase of a multi-million pound scheme to restore eighteenth century parklands to its former glory.

Durham County Council has received further cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund to enable it to start work on a ten year scheme to restore the Georgian gardens at Hardwick Park, near Sedgefield.

One of the key jobs, which the grant of just over £4m will fund, is to correct the tilt on the park's own 'Leaning Tower' so that the stone-built structure can be saved and re-built to its original height.

The park at Hardwick was created between 1754 and 1757 and was considered to be one of the finest examples of eighteenth century design.

The owner and rebuilder John Burden spared no expense in achieving his ambition of changing the 150 acres into a park with all the fashionable buildings of the day.

Celebrated architect James Paine was appointed and he produced a banqueting house, temple, grotto, bath house, Gothic ruin and the stone bridge over the serpentine lake. But many of the features he designed and built now lie in ruins or are partially lost to a tangle of undergrowth. The large ornamental lake, for instance, disappeared in the 1860s and one of the structures, a mock-Gothic tower, is now only half its original height and leaning about four inches from the vertical.

Durham County Council bought the site, excluding the hall, in 1972.

As part of the restoration project, the council wants to re-build the tower to its full height of 50 feet. The straightening operation will involve injecting resin into the ground beneath the wall, which will then expand and 'pump up' the sunken ground.

Hardwick Park project officer Catherine Grezo said: "It would be neither safe nor practical to re-build the tower without correcting the lean or providing proper foundations.

"As happened with the famous bell tower at Pisa, we have called in specialist engineering consultants to advise us on the best way forward.

"Our solution will be different to that being employed at Pisa, and will involve the injection of precise amounts of special structural resin into the ground directly beneath the sagging wall."

Other aspects of the first phase restoration will be to excavate and restore the ornamental lake, and restore the Temple of Minerva, the Gothic seat, the Grand Terrace and the circuit walk.

A heritage resource centre, car park and new entrance also form part of the first phase work, together with measures to conserve and enhance the Park's ecological value.

About 230,000 people a year visit Hardwick, but that number is expected to significantly increase once the restoration work is complete.