CHILDREN will be among those helping celebrate a town cemetery's status as a Local Nature Reserve.

Linthorpe Cemetery is Middlesbrough's largest remaining woodland, and tomorrow it will hold celebrations to mark its designation, including a parade featuring 100 children.

The site teams with history including medieval field markings and village boundaries; reminders of devastating smallpox epidemics and the graves of the town's Victorian grandees.

The cemetery is also the last resting place of a Mohican Indian and sailors, whose headstones bear images of tea clippers and other maritime symbols.

The area is also home to tawny owls, foxes, pipistrelle bats, woodpeckers, hedgehogs, bullfinches, sparrowhawks and squirrels.

Wildspace project officer Sue Antrobus said: "We are delighted that Linthorpe Cemetery has been awarded this special status. Middlesbrough residents feel a real pride for this cemetery, which is rich in history and wildlife.

"A reason for the designation is its easy access. We are surrounded by lovely countryside, but not everyone can hop into a car. Maybe they don't have a garden. This may be the only place they can go to and see wildlife. It's more about where the cemetery is and how close people can get to nature."

Plans for the cemetery have the been supported by English Nature, whose director, Caroline Wood, said: "Local Nature Reserves are places for people to experience wildlife close to their homes.

"Linthorpe Cemetery is ideally placed in urban Middlesbrough, providing a tranquil, green oasis for everyone to enjoy and an educational resource for local schools.''

Jenny Braddy, of the Friends of Linthorpe Cemetery, said: "The friends are really pleased with this development. It means everybody's interests will come together and we will work together a lot more.

"The designation means it carries through certain responsibilities on behalf of local authorities. It affords more opportunities and hopefully getting funding will be easier."