ONE of railways pioneering sons was welcomed home this week as he took up his rightful place in the park that was named after him.

A bronze statue of Timothy Hackworth was unveiled at Shildon's Hackworth Park yesterday, watched by members of the town council.

The unveiling marks the second phase in the regeneration of the park, which began last year after it was awarded a £324,500 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The facelift has also been funded by £130,000 from the town's Single Regeneration Project and £130,000 from the town council.

The new statue is one of two to be seen 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 1960s.

It was erected in the 1920s at the time when the town's primary school was named after him.

The top half of the original statue was preserved and visitors can now see it at the Timothy Hackworth Museum.

The latest project has been a labour of love for sculptor Denise Dutton, who has scoured museums and pictures of the railway engineer, who was famous for his work as an engineer and locomotive manufacturer.