A COUPLE who dream of turning a former prisoner of war camp into a museum are hoping to cash in on a new reality television show.

James and Lisa McLeod hope the BBC show Restoration will finally mean they can raise the £2m needed to transform the Second World War camp at Harperley, in Weardale, County Durham, into a museum for future generations to enjoy.

The camp is one of 30 decaying monuments and old buildings taking part in the programme.

Comedian and passionate conservationist Griff Rhys Jones will focus on three properties deemed to be at risk by English Heritage in each region, from castles and factories to old swimming baths and cottages.

Viewers will vote for one building they would like to see rescued from ruin at the end of each episode with the ten regional winners going forward for a grand live final.

The other sites featured in the North-East, Cumbria and Yorkshire region include Brackenhill Tower, in Longtown, Carlisle, and Wentworth Castle Conservatory, near Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

The McLeods bought the 17-acre Harperley site, which was home to almost 1,000 Italian and German men during the Second World War, in November 2001.

The camp is believed to be one of only ten still standing in the country and became the first prisoner of war camp to be awarded scheduled monument status, in July last year.

Mrs McLeod said: "The programme is a great opportunity for Harperley and if we're successful it will be a massive boost to the area.

"We want to share Harperley with everyone else and for future generations to enjoy it."

The camp includes a theatre, chapel, canteen and jail and the couple say they would need about £2m to transform half the site into a museum. The work would involve stabilising the buildings, including 22 huts.

A spokeswoman for English Heritage, which has worked closely with the BBC on the project, said: "There are 1,500 Grade I and Grade II-listed buildings in England in danger of being lost through neglect and decay.

"Attracting public attention towards the issue in this way can only help to find solutions for these outstanding and irreplaceable parts of our heritage."

* Restoration will be screened on BBC 2 this summer.

'Slow decay' of region's list of historic buildings

The most recent register of historic buildings at risk from ruin and decay shows a total of 131 important structures and monuments in the North-East, and 154 in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Properties on the list, compiled by English Heritage, include the Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, and Tockett's Mill and Priory Dovecote, in Guisborough.

Other sites include the 11th Century Durham Castle, formerly home to the powerful bishops of Durham and a university college since 1837, which was deemed to be suffering "slow decay".

The grandstand at the old racecourse in Richmond, North Yorkshire, which is the last remaining example of York architect John Carr's work, is also on the list.

Risk factors

* Almost a third of England's 250,000 historic monuments and buildings are considered to be at "high risk".

* One historic monument has been lost every day since World War Two.

* It is estimated that more than 1,000 British country houses were lost in the 20th Century.

* The North-East has the highest number of buildings "at risk" in the country, accounting for one in ten Grade II-listed buildings in the region.

* Nationally, progress is being made towards securing the future of more than one in four buildings on the register.

* The proportion is the highest in Yorkshire, with improvements being made at 40 per cent of buildings.