A bronze statue of Timothy Hackworth, one of the pioneering sons of the railway, took up its rightful place in the park that was named after him.

The statue was unveiled at Shildon's Hackworth Park last week.

The unveiling marks the second phase in the regeneration of the park, which started last year after a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for £324,500. The grant was boosted by £130,000 from the Single Regeneration Project and £130,000 from the town council.

The new statue is one of two in the town - another looks down on the market square, which was the subject of a £380,000 revamp in 1998.

The Hackworth Park statue will replace an old monument which had to be removed after vandals pulled it over in the Sixties.

The statute has been created by sculptress Denise Dutton, of Buxton, Derbyshire.

But the new statue is not welcomed by everybody. Independent councillors John Smith and John Cutting have branded it a waste of money and said they felt something else should have been erected to celebrate Shildon's contribution to industry.

Coun Smith said: "We must be the only town in the country that has two statues to the same man.''

Town council clerk Tom Toward said that the statue was part of the application to the Heritage Lottery fund and at the time of the application the council was unanimous in its approval.